What is recorded here

Mullagh Fort is a well-preserved subcircular cashel on a wooded Clare slope, its double-faced stone wall still standing two and a half metres high after centuries of rain and neglect. Westropp wrote of hidden steps and ladder recesses inside the inner face, details later inspectors could not find, suggesting the fort keeps some of its shape private. The entrance sits at the lowest eastern point, inviting entry only after a climb across uneven ground, while a rock-cut tank or passage may still hide in the southern shadow.

On the S-facing slope of a wooded knoll, with land rising c. 100m to the N and falling steeply from E-S. Indicated and named ‘Mullagh Fort’ on both the first (1842) and Cassini (1920) editions of the OS 6-inch map. This well-preserved but overgrown subcircular cashel (c. 42.5m N-S; 40m E-W) is defined by a double-faced stone wall (Wth 1.4-2m; int. H 2.6m; ext. H 2-2.5m) and associated interior wall rubble (combined Wth 6.3m). The well-preserved outer wall-face has a batter and is built of large, well-set stones (max. L 0.9m; H 0.4m), the largest at the base. The inner wall-face is poorly preserved from S-W-N but a terrace (max. Wth 1.3m; H 0.8-1.2m over wall collapse) is visible on the inner wall face from S-W-NNE, and probably originally extended for the full wall circuit. Westropp (1913, 253) mentioned recesses (‘perhaps for ladders’) in the inner wall-face at N (L c. 2.74m; D c. 0.25m) and NW (L c. 2.9m; D c. 0.98m – NOTE these depth measurements are reversed on his plan (ibid., 255, Fig. 10). These recesses were not identified during an inspection in 1999. Similarly, whilst Westropp (1896, 367) had noted that ‘two defaced sets of steps lead up the terrace and wall at the N’, in 1999 only a rough gap (Wth 0.8m) in the terrace at NNE was visible, which may have marked the position of former steps. There is an entrance at ESE, the lowest part of the cashel. Westropp (ibid.) noted a ‘rock-cut tank’ or possible Man-made underground passage (CL017-036002-) in the SSW sector of the interior. See attached images: • CL017-036001-_01 Aerial view from W (Photo. Markus Casey, 1999) • CL017-036001-_02 Snip of Westropp’s plan of the monument (1913, 255, Fig. 10) • CL017-036001-_03 Snip of Westropp’s photo of terraced inner wall face (1913, 252, Fig. 8) Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy and Conn Herriott Date of upload: 20 July 2023

Mullagh Fort is a ringfort situated on a wooded knoll, likely dating to the early medieval period. It is associated with local folklore surrounding fairy activity, common to many such sites in the region.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.