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Cashel is an early Christian cashel situated in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. A cashel is a stone-built ringfort, typically comprising a circular or subcircular enclosure defined by a stone wall rather than an earthen bank. These monuments are characteristic of early Christian settlement in Ireland, dating broadly from the fifth to twelfth centuries. The stone walls provided defensive protection for a small community, domestic structures and ecclesiastical buildings within the enclosed space.
The site lies upon bedrock of the Tyrone Group, a geological formation of Visean age comprising limestone, mudstone, sandstone and siltstone with subordinate chert, coal and conglomerate. This varied geology would have provided the builder with accessible stone for construction, whilst the limestone base would have offered suitable drainage for settlement. The surrounding landscape of County Fermanagh, with its lakes and low-lying terrain, formed part of the broader cultural and economic zone of early Christian Ulster.
The monument is protected by the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities under reference 10438. Cashels of this type represent an important phase in Irish Christian settlement, when communities established fortified ecclesiastical and secular centres that dominated the landscape and served as focal points for both spiritual life and local governance. This example contributes to understanding the distribution and character of such settlements across the northern province.
Cashel is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 10438. View the official record →
Cashel is an early Christian cashel situated in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 10438.
Cashel dates from the e.christ. period, and is classified as a cashel. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Cashel is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 10438.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Rath (4.3 km), Cashel or possible ring cairn (4.5 km), Crannog (4.8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Cashel's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Cashel stands on Tyrone Group, bedrock that formed in the Visean. The rock here is limestone, mudstone, sandstone and siltstone, with subordinate chert, coal and conglomerate.