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 markls 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 in the 6th century 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. In this drumlin country many of the hill tops 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 who 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 adjoinhing the Motte.
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex was granted the Barony of Farney, including Inniskeen, by Elizabeth I of England in the late 16th century. These lands devolved to Viscount Weymouth. The Marquis of Bath sold this estate to the tenants in the 1880s under the land Acts.
In 1806 the first record of Hurling/Football in Inniskeen as Monaghan beat Louth in a match that is celebrated in the Irish poem Iommain Iniis Chaoin.
The GNR(I) Inniskeen railway station opened on 1 April 1851, closed for passenger traffic on 14 October 1957 and finally closed altogether on 1 January 1960. It was on the Dundalk to Enniskillen line was a junction for the Carrickmacross line.
During the recent Northern Ireland troubles, because it is adjacent to Crossmaglen, many people were involved with the Provisional IRA campaign.
Read more about this topic: Inniskeen
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