Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database DU008-006001 (None)
NMR: DU 008 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 727239 Y: 756208 (IRENET95)
This coastal promontory is situated 2km NE of Rush town, Co. Dublin. It is roughly rectangular, projecting E from the mainland at an altitude of 14m OD and has an overall site footprint of 14.32ha. The site is recorded on the first edition six-inch OS map (1837). A belt of at least three banks and ditches have been drawn straight across the root of the headland from N to S over a distance of 350m, before curving round onto the S margin. There are traces of a counterscarp bank in some sectors, though at the northern margin of the headland only the inner bank and its ditch can be seen, and a well is noted in the ditch on OS maps. The inner, earthen bank is stone capped, measuring 10m in width and 1.2m in height, while the denuded outer banks are on average 5m in width and 0.5m in height. The ditches are recorded as being heavily silted up and measured 4m-6m in width and approximately 1m in depth. A stream flows along the outer ditch to debouch on the S. A possible entrance is recorded through these defences at the N end, though it cannot be confirmed whether this is an original feature. An eighteenth century martello tower is situated within the interior at the E end of the headland and an access road constructed to it from the WSW, crossing the S end of the defences. A sherd of Gallo-Roman pottery was found in a disturbed context at the site in the 1970s and recently two second-century, Roman coins were found in ploughed land close to the fort; other Roman material from the site may be contained in a large collection of metalwork finds currently held by the National Museum, but are inaccessible under a legal embargo. Because of the presence of this Roman material at Drumanagh it has been suggested that the site may have served as a distribution centre for Roman produce on the E coast (Raftery 1994, 208). (Westropp 1906, 240; 1922, 66-9; Healy 1975, 20).
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -676855 Y: 7083586 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -6.080292704149675 Latitude: 53.54038015974182 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Dublin
Historic County: Dublin
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Drumanagh
None
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
None
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
This coastal promontory can be described as a broadly rectangular area projecting E from the mainland at an altitude of 14m OD and an overall site footprint of 14.32ha. It is orientated E-W and defended on its western (landward) side by a series of ramparts running N-S across the neck for about 350m.
| Contour Fort | ✗ |
| Partial Contour Fort | ✗ |
| Promontory Fort | ✓ |
| Hillslope Fort | ✗ |
| Level Terrain Fort | ✗ |
| Marsh Fort | ✗ |
| Multiple Enclosure Fort | ✗ |
| Hilltop | ✗ |
| Coastal Promontory | ✓ |
| Inland Promontory | ✗ |
| Valley Bottom | ✗ |
| Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop | ✗ |
| Ridge | ✗ |
| Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp | ✗ |
| Hillslope | ✗ |
| Lowland | ✗ |
| Spur | ✗ |
Dominant Topographic Feature: None
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 14.0m
N/A
A sherd of Gallo-Roman pottery was found in a disturbed context at the site in the 1970s and recently two second-century AD Roman coins were found in ploughed land close to the fort. As these were recovered from disturbed contexts it cannot be regarded as reliable dating evidence for the site. It does however suggest activity on the headland during the later Iron Age.
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | Discovery of Roman pottery and coins |
| Artefactual: | None |
The site is recorded on the first edition six-inch OS map (1837). Dalton, in 1838, was the first to note 'some curious earthworks' at the site, however, it was only in the early twentieth century when the headland was fully surveyed by Thomas Westropp, who recorded the promontory and associated defences (1906, 240; 1922, 66-9).
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1837): | OS six-inch map |
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1838): | Dalton (History of Dublin) |
| Earthwork Survey (1906): | Westropp |
| Earthwork Survey (1922): | Westropp |
| Other (1994): | Raftery (Pagen Celtic Ireland) |
| Geophysical Survey (2014): | Dowling |
An eighteenth century martello tower is situated within the promontory at the E end of the headland and an access road constructed to it. A well is recorded in the defences to the N.
None
| None | ✗ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✓ |
| Other | ✗ |
Martello tower
| No Known Features | ✗ |
| Round Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✓ |
None
| No Known Excavation | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
Two ring-ditches noted in the National Record
| No Known Geophysics | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✓ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
A sherd of Gallo-Roman pottery was found in a disturbed context at the site in the 1970s and recently two second-century AD Roman coins were found in ploughed land close to the fort; other Roman material from the site may be contained in a large collection of metalwork finds currently held by the National Museum, but inaccessible under a legal embargo.
| No Known Finds | ✗ |
| Pottery | ✓ |
| Metal | ✓ |
| Metalworking | ✗ |
| Human Bones | ✗ |
| Animal Bones | ✗ |
| Lithics | ✗ |
| Environmental | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
NO APPARENT FEATURES
| APs Not Checked | ✓ |
| None | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
A possible entrance is recorded through these defences at the N end but it cannot be confirmed whether this is an original feature.
| 2: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (West): | None |
The defences comprise a belt of three parallel banks and ditches blocking the approaches from the W, except at the N margin of the headland, where only one bank and an external ditch can be seen. The inner earthen bank is stone capped and measures 10m in width and 1.2m in height, while the denuded outer banks measure on average 5m in width and 0.5m in height. The ditches are recorded as being heavily silted up and measured 4-6m in width and approximately 1m in depth.
| Area 1: | 12.62ha. |
| Total: | 12.62ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 14.32ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SW Quadrant: | 3 |
| NW Quadrant: | 3 |
| Total: | 3 |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✓ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
None
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✓ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Rubble | ✓ |
| Wall-walk | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✓ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✗ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Murus Duplex | ✗ |
| Timber-framed | ✗ |
| Timber-laced | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| No Known Excavation | ✓ |
| Other | ✗ |
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | None |
Number of Ditches: 3
| ✗ | None |
Dalton, J. 1838. A History of County Dublin. Hodges and Smith, Dublin.
Dowling G. 2014. Geophysical Survey at Drumanagh, north Co. Dublin (Licence 12R127). Unpublished report submitted to the National Monuments Service, Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
Westropp, T.J. 1922. The promontory forts and adjoining remains in Leinster. The royal society of Antiquaries of Ireland 12, 5276.
Raftery, B. 1994. Pagan Celtic Ireland. Routledge
Atlas of Hillforts:
Wikidata:
This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
and should be cited as:
Lock, Gary and Ralston, Ian. 2024. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk
Document Version 1.1