Indicated — Cashel (kilmaine By.)

In pasture, utilising a roughly E−W elevation with a fall of ground to S to a flat expanse of damp pasture, where there is a spring c. 30m to SW. This monument is recorded in the 1838 OS Letters as 'a cashel or round fort of stone in the Townland of Cashel, which the progress of cultivation has removed.' (O’Flanagan 1927, 211 (83)). Knox (1911, 302) suggested that the remains are of ‘a miniature motte and bailey work’, basing this on the fact that ‘Mote’ is written on the 17th-century Down Survey county map in this general area. Oval platform (46m E−W; 29m N−S) defined by a scarp (H 1m at N; 1.5-1.8m at S), with a stony bank (Wth c. 3m; int. H 0.4m; ext. H 0.5m) surviving on the E arc. The platform is constructed on a natural rise and the enclosing scarp utilises the natural fall of ground at N and S, highest on the S side. A few large stones protrude randomly from the scarp at SW, possibly remnants of stone facing. The stone bank at E is broad, low flat-topped and sod-covered; it is clipped on its outer edge by a N−S field boundary engulfed in brambles and blackthorn bushes. There are intermittent hints of outer enclosing features. At the N−NE there is a very slight depression (Wth 2-3) immediately outside the platform scarp, possibly a fosse. At the foot of the scarp at SSW−NW, there is a terrace (Wth 2-2.5m) at the outer edge of which the natural slope falls away; a grassed-over quarry pit (6m E−W; 7m N−S) cuts into the terrace at SW. At NW the outer edge of the terrace has a sharply defined scarp (ext. H 0.7-0.9m) with a low internal lip/bank (Wth c. 1m; H 0.1-0.2m). This scarp probably post-dates the ringfort, continuing beyond it to W and turning to N for a few meters from the N edge of the terrrace. A low slumped area/break (Wth c. 2m) in the platform scarp at NE, bordered on the S side by the N terminal of the bank, may be an original entrance. In the interior, there is noticeable but poorly-defined rise in ground level, spanning an area of 7-10m towards the W end of the platform; this may be the location of ‘foundations of stone buildings’ (MA110-014002-) noted by Knox (1911, 302). The rise is defined on its E edge by a very slight scarp and on its NW edge by a low sod-covered stony bank (L m; Wth 1.6m; H 0.4m) which curves W−NE. The NE end of the bank is cut by a subrectangular pit (11m E−W; 5m N−S; D 1.2m at W end) dug into the NW sector of the platform, 1m in from the top edge of the scarp. The pit is grassed over; a few large stones protrude randomly from the sides/edge of the pit at N and S and a single, large slab (L at least 1m; Wth 0.55m; T c. 17m) lies in its base towards the SW end. The platform is grass-covered, with hawthorn trees growing on the scarp at S−W. Attached images: MA110-014001-_01.JPG viewed from N MA110-014001-_02.JPG viewed from S Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 4 November 2021