placenamesMagheracashel
Machaire Caisil
An eighteenth-century estate transaction and Robert Traill's 1803 parish census preserve details of Magheracashel's landholding and working households.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Machaire Caisil · Irish · main form · validated name
- Magheracashel · English · main form
Place & story
Within the Ballintoy estate
George Hill's history of the Stewarts of Ballintoy includes Magheracashel, written Maghrecastle, among lands involved in a transaction with the Earl of Antrim. The account records a deed completed in February 1736 in favour of Jane Stewart, following negotiations conducted by her brother Alexander. Magheracashel formed one part of a much larger group of townlands: the rent and valuation figures given in the account belong to that combined property, rather than to this townland alone. [2]
A schoolmaster in 1803
The Reverend Robert Traill's census of Ballintoy parish, taken in April 1803, records Neil Donnelly as a schoolmaster at Maghracastle Lower. His household included his wife Catherine Rankin and their children. Bill Macafee's transcription preserves both the original surname spelling, Donally, and its standardised form. The entry establishes a named teacher living here at that date, although it does not identify his school building or describe its pupils. [3]
Working households and smaller place-names
Traill distinguished Upper, Middle and Lower Maghracastle, as well as Kinraver within Magheracashel. At Upper Maghracastle, John Caldwell was recorded as a weaver in his parents' household. At Lower Maghracastle, John Stewart was described as a yeoman, while William Scally received the same description at Kinraver. These entries preserve occupations and local subdivisions that are less visible in later records organised simply under the townland name. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Magheracashel. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- The Stewarts of Ballintoy: estate transaction, February1736 · George Hill, transcription hosted by Ken F. Stewart
- A Complete List of the Inhabitants of the Parish of Ballintoy, April1803, PRONI T679/69 · Robert Traill; transcription by Bill Macafee,2012
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2021-05-26. How this page was prepared.