[Title of book] The XUAL Community: From Earliest Articles of

Association To Its Last Days

[Section] Chapter Two
They built homes on the bog
And came from near and far
To raise their minds to utmost heaven
But were misled by a fallen star.
(~The ballad of Kilmatogh, 1984.)
One of the most important documents we have for understanding the
Kilmatogh Community is their Articles of Association. This founding
document specifies the group's official name, regulations for the
Community's operation, defines their purpose and lays out how tasks
were to be accomplished, including the process for appointing their
official directors and how the financial records would be handled. It
can be considered a 'rule book' for its members, because it outlines
the methodology for accomplishing the day-to-day tasks that must be
completed.
When reading the Articles of Association for research for this book, I
wanted to see some kindling of a new dawn in the development of
society, some unique individuality or distinctiveness that caused
these people to come from all over Ireland and the continent of
Europe to form this group together in Kilmatogh. But really, all it
shows us is an exercise in arithmetic and the fulfilling of a
bureaucratic requirement of the Irish State.
So, there must have been something more to Cassin's idea of
'Community' that was not conveyed in the Articles of Association
which was communicated to prospective members and ignited their
interest and fervour? In fact, there was: A prospectus. Unfortunately
for us, nothing of this prospectus Cassin wrote has survived (as far as
my research ascertained, at least), though I hope a copy may turn up
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[Title of book] The XUAL Community: From Earliest Articles of

Association To Its Last Days
in the future, kept in some person's attic awaiting discovery.
It is only when we look at the founding documents, printed
advertisements and other accounts all together that can we begin to
see the uniqueness of Cassin's XUAL Community, which we might
label as experimental or fringe.
From witness accounts given by locals living near Kilmatogh and
suppliers in Blackross town that had occasional business dealings
with the Community we can understand the XUAL Community was
a small group of individuals living together, in whom all essential
characteristics of communal living were found. There was
participation by all members in various communal activities. The
chief characteristics of the XUAL Community was their:
1. Distinctiveness: It's clear that the XUAL Community had its own
individuality or distinctiveness. This distinctiveness was expressed in
the group-consciousness of the people living in the Community. It
was known who was a Community member and who was from
outside it.
2. Smallness: The XUAL Community was a small group of
individuals (83 at last count) who had a mutual interest and social
and economic standing in the Community. They had a direct and first
hand contact among themselves and the group's leaders.
3. Homogeneity: The language, way-of-life, outlook and states-ofmind of all the persons belonging to the Community were alike. And,
near the end, the members showed similarity in matters of dress and
comportment.
4. Self-sufficiency: The XUAL Community provided for most of the
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[Title of book] The XUAL Community: From Earliest Articles of

Association To Its Last Days
activities and bodily needs of its (adult) population. They had their
own housing, waste disposal, water purification and electrical power.
The group provided for all the activities and needs of its members
living in Kilmatogh, controlling and making exclusive use of the land
to grow their own food.
Thus, distinctiveness, smallness, homogeneity and self-sufficiency
were the characteristics of the XUAL Community. On account of
these characteristics the Community at Kilmatogh could be said to
have had a personality all of its own, yet no attempt has been made
by any social anthropologists to seriously make a study of it.
What were its ends as revealed in the group's founding documents,
printed advertisements and other accounts? As an association with
articles, the group was organised for a common end. This end was
realised through the co-operative efforts of its members. As an
association, it could not do everything. Yet apart from some form of
social instinct, their goal was mainly psychological (rather than say
political, economic, religious, recreational, cultural, aesthetic,
philanthropic or educational).
A news article printed in the Leitrim Gazette in 1982 and which was
pulled from circulation by the printers (but I managed to see a copy),
illuminates this goal of the Community:
Then, in 1969 Cassin decided to form his own group that
embraced all kinds of fringe research. This became his XUAL
Community. Cassin is credited with a lot of positive
innovations as a consciousness guru. He focused on
marginalized people that society wanted nothing to do with:
the drunks, drug addicts, and the homeless. He was stern with
the people around him, but he believed this tough love was
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[Title of book] The XUAL Community: From Earliest Articles of

Association To Its Last Days
necessary to achieve and maintain scientific detachment.
But Cassin made it quite clear early on that his research was
merely a by-product of a larger mission. He wanted to create
an experimental society that would transform the whole
world. Over the years, the Community grew into a new way
of living, as important to its members as any of the world's
major religions.
"This is the kind of revolution that moved the world from
Judaism to Catholicism to Protestantism to Advanced
Awareness," Cassin would insist. "This is a total revolution
game." [he added.]
(Fiona Doyle, Leitrim Gazette, Saturday 18th of
September, 1982. Local Studies, Leitrim County Library.)
Another primary source about our subject is the Structural Planning
document lodged with the Leitrim County Council Planning
Authority by Malcolm Cassin. This document submitted in 1974 (5
years after the XUAL Community was first established) reveals a lot
of details about the structures built on the site at Kilmatogh since its
founding. It tells us how many were built, how they were developed
and what were their uses. Included are a number of drawing plans
and a site map demarcating the size of the development.
Cassin tells us the Community built sixty nine geodesic domes and
communal buildings at a cost of around IR65,000. This is very little
in today's money, but in the early 1970s that was enough to build
temporary wooden dwellings to accommodate the entire Community
as well as construct a laboratory and meditation centre for their
communal research needs. Where did the money to build all of
these structures come from? Cassin explains in his document:
Various members of the XUAL Community have given their
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[Title of book] The XUAL Community: From Earliest Articles of

Association To Its Last Days
time, money and energy to build these dwellings and
communal structures. The experience they have gained has
been enormous. This document shares some of that
experience.
(Excerpt from the XUAL Community Planning
Document, filed in 1974 and printed with permission from
Leitrim County Council Planning Authority.)
So the members fronted the money themselves. However, the homes
the XUAL Community built were temporary and not meant to last.
Light, wooden structures suited the site best, which is essentially bog
land (had concrete been used, no doubt their weight would have
made them sink into the ground). The other reason why the
Community built temporary wooden structures was so that the land
could be returned to its natural state. Cassin explains:
We fully considered the structures to be temporary insofar as
they could be dismantled and the land easily returned to its
former state if our Community came to an end at Kilmatogh.
Most of our dwelling structures were built by placing
untreated timber directly in the ground. This meant the
building's lifespan was limited to the decay rate of the timber
unless regular maintenance was performed. More important
structures such as the laboratory and meditation centre had to
be designed so that their timbers were not in contact with the
moisture-leaden ground to avoid this maintenance
requirement.
No conventional concrete foundations were intended or have
been used in the construction of these structures. This
stipulation allows for the easy removal of the buildings and
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[Title of book] The XUAL Community: From Earliest Articles of

Association To Its Last Days
the rehabilitation of the bog land to its natural state should the
need arise.
(Excerpt from the XUAL Community Planning
Document, filed in 1974 and printed with permission from
Leitrim County Council Planning Authority.)
Yet this stipulation on temporariness is a telling sign; did Cassin
think from the start that the Community at Kilmatogh wasn't going to
last, or maybe he didn't want it to last for reasons best known to
himself? Who knows? Obviously, we know it didn't last, but only
after the fact that it came to an end.

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