Ring forts & cashels in Sligo

Ringforts & Cashels in Sligo

Sligo's ring forts and cashel provided its inhabitants with the protection they needed to protect them from invading clans or wild animals. As farmers, they built these forts to protect their livestock and family as well as they could.

Cashelbaun

As the name suggests, Cashelbaun is a cashel, or stone-built ringfort, dating to the early medieval period (C. 400 - 1100 AD). An extended family would have lived here together with their livestock to protect the latter from thieves.
In general, these cashels had numerous enclosing elements and were in general built in a commanding location providing the inhabitants with views of the surrounding area.
The raised circular area is enclosed by a limestone rubble wall. Souterrains are sub-surface features consisting of an entrance, passage and chamber and were used as a refuge or for storing food.

Clogher Stone Fort

You can find Clogher Stone Fort outside the village of Monasteraden on the way to Ballaghaderreen. A sign points to the entrance (Steward's gate) where a short walk will bring you to this well preserved cashel.
With a diameter of 26m, Clogher fort or Cashelmore as it is also known as has impressive walls that are over 4m thick and 2m height. Within the cashel are souterrains. The Cashel might date back to the Bronze age Times and was the dwelling place of a large clan or family of farmers.

Note: Clogher Stone Fort is currently closed to the public

Cahelore iron Age promontory fort

Just outside Ballintogher is a stone cashel known as Cashelore. A signposted path brings you to the fort in approximately 5 minutes.
The stone Cashel on a small steep hill, would have been used between 500-1000 AD, built mainly as a farmstead to protect animals from raiders and wild animals such as wolves.
This is an excellent example of a cashel or stone fort, which was painted by Wakeman on 30 October 1880. It is also called Cashel Bir or Bawnboy.
The oval shaped cashel is 23m in diameter east to west and 16m north to south with 3m thick walls that are 2.4m high externally. Parts of the base of the wall protrude in parts of the external wall. This is to stabilise the wall foundations because of the steepness of the hill the cashel is located on. The entrance is to the east-northeast and is 1.2m wide but is partially blocked by fallen stones from the south of the entrance. A ramp appears to lead up to the entrance from an area of slightly elevated ground. Two large flagstones appear in the centre of the grass-covered interior.
A record from 1891 mentions the existence of a souterrain within the wall, which apparently led to the bottom of the hill and a number of skeletons were frequently found outside the fort.