On August 18th, as part of Heritage Week, the Quin Heritage Group hosted an engaging talk on the historic Creevagh Beg Fort on Power’s land. Presented by Michael Houlihan, the event attracted history enthusiasts and locals eager to learn about the rich heritage of the area.
The talk provided a deep dive into the significance of Creevagh Beg and its surrounding stone forts, highlighting their construction methods, historical context, and archaeological findings that date back thousands of years. Michael shared fascinating insights into the various types of structures found in Clare, including crannogs, earthen forts, and the unique drystone construction methods employed in the region.
Attendees heard of the lifestyle of the communities that once thrived around these forts, including their agricultural practices and the vital role of cattle farming. Ann MacNamara spoke about the intriguing folklore surrounding fairy forts, enriching the narrative of these ancient sites.
The event celebrated the architectural marvels of the past and fostered a sense of community among attendees, sparking conversations about preserving and promoting our local heritage.
Michael discussed the archaeological significance of Creevagh Beg and other stone forts in Clare, highlighting their historical context from the Upper Palaeolithic period to the medieval era. The key points of his talk are as follows:
Progression of Earlier Clare Habitations through different types:
- Caves– Butchered bear patella found in the Alice andGwendoline Cave in 1903 pushed our history back to 12500 years ago (Upper Palaeolithic). 14 of 259 Clare caves show occupation at some time.
- Post holes on Mooghaun Hill indicate the presence of round huts of wattle and timber, from the Neolithic into the Late Bronze age. One hut site stands in Ballymarkahan near fort.
- Crannogs in East Clare lakes were present from the Bronze Age to early medieval times (eg Knocknalappa Lake). There are 39 crannogs in 20 locations across the county.
- Forts – Both earthen and stone structures. Predominant in the Iron Age/ Early Christian period. Possibly 1,400 remain in Clare.
- Peel Towers– Anglo-Norman technology quickly adopted by the Gaelic Irish. Clann Cuileán/the MacNamaras raised ~ 80 towers.
- Tudor/Cromwellian builds (Lemanagh) and the ‘Big Houses’.
- Vernacular homes.
Proliferation of Archaeology (Westropp, 1909):-
‘Of forts Doora, Clooney, Tulla and Kilnoe had some fifty each; Quin had over eighty. There are nearly fifty Dolmens and at least twenty-five peel-towers, showing how important a centre of population the plain must have been from early time down to and past the Norman Conquest.’
Stone forts are known as cashels, cahers, lioses, raths, dúns etc. Busiest in the late medieval in a Gaelic (not Anglo-Norman) area. 600AD to 900AD seemed to have been the main building period.
Quin Stone Forts
Construction: Dry stone construction methods began in the Neolithic e.g. The Céide Fields in Mayo. There are over 900 stone forts in Clare. Quin forts are described as ‘Dispersed individual farmsteads’. (No ‘towns’ in the area).
Stone Forts were typically:
- Clustered around a high status fort, with circular wall having a single opening, generally facing South/South East or towards the main fort.
- Secured gate at the entrance, sometimes but not often with a hut for sentry.
- Some had short causeways.
- Walls were up to 12 feet high and four feet thick.
- Many had an inner floor higher than the surrounding field.
- Unlike Earthen forts, cashels generally had no fosse or ditch. Where you had double ramparts, the inner one was the strongest.
- Dwellings were back from the walls and were of wooden construction and thatched.
Creevagh Beg has a souterrain for storage and shelter. Its outer wall has a diameter of about 100 metres. Relied on the community and not just the occupiers for defense due to its size.
Finds: Some iron pieces found in Cahercalla and a few bronze pieces elsewhere.
Creevagh Beg forts known as Caherbane (bán– white) and Caherumine (méan-middle )
Cattle were the mainstay of the family, with an average of 20 animals per unit. Light tillage was practiced, usually in a small field beside the fort. Sheep and pigs were also retained for wool and home consumption.
Notable structures of the era nearby (from Westropp):
– ‘Two cahers south of Ballmarkahan Castle
– In the crags to the north-east of Ballymarkahan, partly in Knappogue and partly in Ballymarkahan, is a remarkable oblong stone fort.
– Ballymarkahan: The foundation of a little circular hut-ring lies near the more southern caher in this field; the northern caher is barely traceable.
– 100 feet to the north of these is a fine and perfect rath. The garth is not raised, nor has it a fosse; but it consists of a steep ring of earth and stones 7 to 8 feet high, planted with hawthorns.
– Creevagh: Across the river is a remarkable double fort. The fort on the summit is a circular ring-wall; the faces are nearly destroyed; but enough remains among the heaps of filling (15 to over 20 feet wide, and 3 or 4 feet high) to show that it was from 12 to 16 feet thick.
– The next reach has lintels, the outer only 3 feet 6 inches long, and is nearly filled; the sides incline, and it runs southward. The wall is 21 feet thick, and 15 feet beyond it is another fort of earth on the slope of the hill.
– Creevaghbeg: there is another caher, thickly planted with hawthorns, near the great fort. It has a wall greatly dilapidated, nearly circular outside, evidently 12 feet thick.
– A caher lies at a short distance down a gentle slope to the south-east. It was a massive fort, 87 to 90 feet across the garth, and 114 feet over all. The wall is 12 feet thick, and 8 feet high.
– There are three forts close together on the border of the townland near Dangan and Cahercalla. The southern is a caher. The wall is nearly uniform, 12 feet thick, with two facings of excellent masonry set with great skill to the curve.
– Cragataska This townland, with Cahercalla, lies north of the Creevaghs. It has the foundations of a caher, evidently the “Cahercragataska” mentioned in 1729. The wall was 12 feet thick, and the garth 102 feet wide, with curved enclosures inside.
– Cahercalla is the most famous for being the MacNamara triple-walled stone ringfort and homestead.’
References:
– Types of the Ringforts and Similar Structures remaining in Eastern Clare (Quin, Tulla and Bodyke), Thomas Johnson Westropp M.A., 1909.
– The Irish Ringfort, Matthew Stout, 1997.
