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Cashel & souterrain is an early Christian settlement comprising a stone-built cashel, or fortified homestead, together with an underground passage known as a souterrain. Located near Newry and Mourne in County Down, the monument sits on bedrock of the Hawick Group, a Silurian-age wacke that has weathered to create the rolling upland terrain typical of this part of the Mourne region. The stone-built cashel represents the residential core of an early Christian community, dating to somewhere within the broad early medieval period, whilst the adjoining souterrain—a stone-lined underground chamber or passage—reflects the practical concerns of its inhabitants regarding storage, refuge, or ceremonial use.
This combination of features is characteristic of early Christian settlement patterns across Ireland and parts of Scotland, where cashels served as defended homesteads for individual families or small monastic communities. The local wacke bedrock, though difficult to dress finely, would have provided ready-worked stone for wall-building. Souterrains, whether for food storage in a cool, dry environment or for other purposes, appear frequently at such sites across the same period.
The monument is protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference 8853, reflecting its significance as evidence of early Christian settlement and domestic life in the north of Ireland during the early medieval centuries.
Cashel & souterrain is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 8853. View the official record →
Cashel & souterrain is an early Christian settlement comprising a stone-built cashel, or fortified homestead, together with an underground passage known as a souterrain. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 8853.
Cashel & souterrain 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 & souterrain 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 8853.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Stone faced rath - one of a pair with 051 (3 km), Stone faced rath - one of a pair with 051 (3.1 km), Standing stone (3.1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Cashel & souterrain'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 & souterrain stands on Hawick Group, bedrock that formed in the Wenlock. The rock here is wacke.