E.CHRIST. · CASHEL

Cashel

Moyle, Northern Ireland
NISMR MonID 1258
Period
E.CHRIST.
Site type
CASHEL
Nation
Northern Ireland
The designation
Reference
NISMR MonID 1258
Authority
DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)
Grid reference
D2495034880
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)

Overview

History & significance

Cashel is a early Christian cashel sited in the Moyle district of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The monument occupies bedrock of the Southern Highland Group, psammite and pelite deposits laid down during the Middle Cambrian period, whose weathered surface provides the foundation for this enclosed settlement. The cashel is protected as a scheduled historic monument under Historic Environment Division reference 1258.

Early Christian cashels represent a distinctive form of enclosed settlement found throughout Ireland, typically comprising stone-built perimeter walls defining defended homesteads and livestock enclosures. Dating broadly from the fifth to twelfth centuries, these settlements reflect the social and economic organisation of early medieval Irish society, accommodating both domestic occupation and agricultural storage within their protective boundaries.

The Cashel site at Moyle demonstrates the distribution of such enclosed settlements across the north of Ireland, positioned on the ancient bedrock that underlies much of the Antrim plateau. Its preservation as a scheduled monument recognises the importance of cashels in understanding settlement patterns, land use and community life in early Christian Ireland.

Cashel is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 1258. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Cashel?

Cashel is a early Christian cashel sited in the Moyle district of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 1258.

What period does Cashel date from?

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.

Who is responsible for protecting Cashel?

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 1258.

What other scheduled monuments are near Cashel?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Standing stone (1.5 km), Two standing stones (1.5 km), Craigagh altar. craighagh altar and enclosure (3.3 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Cashel

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:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman World
Ireland was never conquered by Rome, so this traces the island's Iron Age kingdoms and its contact with the Roman world.
Historic Records
The 19th-century records of this place: valuations, Ordnance Survey memoirs and topographical accounts.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Cashel

Cashel stands on Southern Highland Group, bedrock that formed in the Middle Cambrian. The rock here is psammite and pelite.