Caheer Baelee — Patrickswell

On a rocky promontory immediately above a cliff on the SW side of Knockderc. The site occupies a strategic location where the ground falls steeply to the W, S and E. A 20th century quarry has removed much of the S and E of the monument; a small part may survive along its W margin or elsewhere. The ground to the N is flat and extends onto the summit of the hill. The site has panoramic views to the S, W and SE. Located 350m SSE of two conjoined stone circles (LI032-064----); 330m S of a stone circle (LI032-065003-) and a later field system (LI032-065001-) and 110m SE of a stone circle (LI032-065002-). The site is not depicted on the 1840 ed. OSi 6-inch map which illustrates the rocky promontory. It is identified as an antiquity called ‘Caheer Baelee’ on the 1897 ed. OSi 25-inch and the Cassini OSi 6-inch maps. O’Kelly (1944, 31) discounted the monument citing Lynch (1913, 19) who wrote that; ‘on Knockderk there is a large seat formed out of the natural rock called Cathaoir "Baelee", and Cahir Baelee'. Depicted on the OSi map as a natural out cropping boulder in which there is a hollow roughly resembling a seat. It is now called the ‘Lady’s Chair’. The extent of the quarry is visible on Google Earth orthoimages taken 28/06/2018 and 20/09/2020. Fitzpatrick (2004, 167) doubted that 'Caheer Baelee' / 'Cathaoir Baelee' represented the remains of an inauguration chair but instead was the remains of a so-called landlords' chair named after the Bailey family who acquired lands around Lough Gur in the 17th century. Máire MacNeill (1962, 346-7) suggested that Knockderc was a Lughnasa Site based on the wide panoramic views from the hilltop, the presence of a stone seat, folkore beliefs in treasure buried in the hill, subterranean cavity etc. See attached Google Street View July 2019 and Google Earth orthoimages Compiled by: Edmond O’Donovan Date of upload: 18 November 2020