Inniskeen

History

This territory had been inhabited from the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age. Rock art carvings (Petroglyphs) have been discovered in adjoining townlands (including Drumirril) dating to 3000 BC. Cup and ring marks with concentric circles are the main inscriptions. They have been excavated by UCD School of Archaeology. Finds on the site ranged from late Neolithic to the early Christian period. These included ancient cooking places known as Fulachta Fiadh. Unlike Newgrange the carvings are on the bedrock and not part of a constructed monument. It is not open to public viewing, A Bronze Age cyst grave was also discovered in Inniskeen Glebe townland. A monastery was founded here sometime between the 6th and 7th centuries by Saint Daigh MacCarell which was burned in 789, plundered by the Vikings in 948, and burned a second time in 1166. The bottom third of the round tower remains (42 feet high). In this drumlin country, many of the hilltops have hill forts and associated souterrains which date from the late Iron Age or early Christian era. The country was part of McMahon Clann territory and displaced Carrolls in the 9th century as the dominant force in the area. The arrival of the Normans saw the construction of a motte-and-bailey in the 13th century. The motte is still standing. The arrival of the Augustinian order of monks saw the construction of a new monastery of that order as a branch of the Abbey at Louth. One section of its wall remains adjoining the graveyard in the field adjoining the Motte. Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex was granted the Barony of Farney, including Inniskeen, by Queen Elizabeth I of England in the late 16th century. These lands devolved to Viscount Weymouth. The Marquess of Bath sold this estate to the tenants in the 1880s under the land…