"Baile
Maol Caiseal"
The place of the ruined stone fort
Mount Cashel takes its name from nearby Ballymulcashel
("Baile maol caiseal" in Gaelic which means the place of the ruined
stone fort). In 1850 Andrew Stacpoole leased the house and ninety-eight
acres of land to John Frost. By the turn of the 20th century the
Butler family from nearby Castle Crine were in residence. During
the middle of 20th century Mr & Mrs Richard Abbott-Anderson
lived here. He ran a mechanical engineering business in Ennis.
His mother was a member of the Parker family of Ballyvalley. In
the early 1970's the property was purchased by Colonel and Mrs
John Deighton. Mrs Deighton's family has strong links with Clare
and Limerick. The house and lodges were faithfully restored in
the late 20th Century to their Victorian heritage by Tony &
Patricia Muffett. The property is now owned by Patrick & Annette
Shanahan. The Shanahan's are an old Clare/Limerick family who
can date their heritage back to Brian Boru's grandmother, who
was a Shanahan. Brian who was the last High King of all Ireland,
met his untimely death in the battle of Clontarf in 1014, but
not before his army had banished the Vikings out of Ireland.
Ancient History
Evidence of much earlier habitation is confirmed
by the presence of a "Crannog" (Lake Dwelling) in the middle of
Castle Lake. This is a man-made mound of rocks in the lake built
by the Celts. Such lake dwellings were common in Ireland in the
5th to 12th centuries A.D. Settlements of this kind may, however,
have been used as early as the late bronze age and in some cases
were still occupied up to the seventeenth century. Crannogs were
artificial islands on which people built houses, kept animals
and lived in relative security. The name Crannog is taken from
the Irish word crann which means tree. As the name suggests timber
was the most important building material. They were usually built
about 100 meters from the shore of a shallow lake. The island
was constructed by laying layers of brushwood and other material,
such as stones on the lake until eventually the island was formed.
In the central area, houses of a wooden construction were built.
Access to the Crannog was originally by underwater stepping
stones, later by boat but when times became
more settled, causeways or bridges were used.
The Craggaunowen Project, 4 miles from Mount Cashel, recreates aspects of Ireland's
past with the restoration and reconstruction's of earlier forms
of dwelling houses, farmsteads, hunting sites and early Christian
eras. This includes a reconstructed Crannog and Ringfort.
