placenamesCappeen
An Caipín
Cappeen, also known as Coppeen, has an active tradition of investigating and conserving local heritage. Its ringfort archaeology and restored forge offer contrasting views of the area’s past.
The name
A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
- An Caipín · Irish · main form · validated name
- Cappeen · English · main form
- Coppeen · English · main form
Place & story
Cahirvagliair’s unusual entrance
Cahirvagliair ringfort is particularly noted for its stone-roofed entrance passage. Coppeen Heritage describes an inner enclosure about forty-two metres across within a larger earthwork. Antiquarian John Windele investigated the site in 1843, assisted by Father Dan O’Sullivan. A further excavation under Conleth Manning in 1984 included restoration of the entrance. The surviving stone passage gives this earthen fort a distinctive architectural feature, without proving the local claims that it was a royal residence. [2]
A gold find with an uncertain location
Coppeen Heritage records a hoard of late Bronze Age gold ornaments found in the nineteenth century in a fort at Coppeen. It also stresses a limitation in the record: the area contains more than one ringfort, and the precise findspot cannot be securely identified. The hoard should therefore not be assigned confidently to Cahirvagliair simply because that is the best-known local fort. [2]
Bringing the forge back to life
The local archaeological, historical and cultural society spent more than two years restoring a ruined forge. Its project, A Smithy Reborn, reached the Hidden Heritage shortlist for National Heritage Week 2015, as recorded by the Heritage Council. The restoration preserved evidence of a family blacksmithing business and its place in rural working life. It was recognition of a conservation project, rather than the winning entry in that award category. [3]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Cork
- Barony
- Carbery East (W.D.)
- Civil parish
- Kinneigh
- Within
- Cappeen West
- Coordinates
- 51.79453, -8.98870 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 108551 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Cappeen. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Cahirvagliair Ring Fort: excavation and Coppeen gold hoard · Coppeen Archaeological, Historical and Cultural Society
- National Heritage Week 2015 Event Awards: A Smithy Reborn, page 2 · The Heritage Council, awards held June 2016
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.