Part 2: Chapter 10: Kilfinaghta Parish: Mountcashel Townland

Description of site:
An examination of the relevant 1842 6” O.S. sheet for the above townland shows an archaeological site to the immediate south of the main farmhouse represented. Field examination in 1978 failed to find any trace of this site. However locals did say that part of this site, a stonefort, existed up to c. 1970 when it was finally levelled. Why then was it not represented on 6” editions of the O.S. sheets after 1842? The reason is unclear but it seems surprising the fact that visible traces existed to c. 1970. What did locals remember of this stonefort? Firstly it had a single wall which, prior to destruction, was in a poor condition. Its maximum height was only 1 metre while the width centred on 2 ½ to 3 metres. Parts of this wall were missing in areas, obviously the loose stone had been carted away and used in field boundary erection.

This stonefort, as represented on the 1842 6” O.S. sheet, was of a circular shape with internal diameters centring on 25 metres.

(In relation to folklore, locals tell that in the late nineteenth century a man who cut bushes from this site lost the use of one of his eyes).

Note: For information on the Tower House within this townland refer to the relevant part of Section 3 of thesis: “Castles and Tower Houses in the Barony of Bunratty Lower”.