Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database CO142-093 (None)
NMR: CO 142 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 522907 Y: 532562 (IRENET95)
The site is located on the western shore of Glandore Harbour, West Cork. It can be described as a rectangular area of approximately 0.4ha projecting E into the harbour at an altitude of 10m OD. The enclosing elements are composed of a single bank and ditch on the W side with evidence of a small outer counterscarp bank. There is a single break that is probably of later date. Westropp describes that the bank was overlain with a modern fence in the early twentieth century (1914, 95). There are no recorded internal features such as hut-sites and excavation in 1952 did not find any trace of occupation in an 'archaeologically sterile' interior (O'Kelly 1952). Sections through the banks of the promontory revealed dry-stone faced bank with a core of stone rubble quarried from a steep-sided ditch. The bank also had evidence of an internal terrace. The original entrance was not identified with the excavator suggesting it may have been eroded away by coastal erosion (ibid). The site is currently under pasture.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -1014276 Y: 6717440 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -9.11139959563387 Latitude: 51.54036406302628 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Cork
Historic County: Cork
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Carrigillihy
None
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Promontory partially covered in scrub and bracken, however, most of the interior is free of overgrowth.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✗ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✓ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
The promontory is rectangular in shape, projecting E into Glandore Harbour with a single bank and ditch located on the W side. It is situated at an elevation of 10m OD.
| 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: E -facing promontory
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✓ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 10.0m
N/A
There is no dating evidence available for the site. Excavation did not recover any datable artefacts.
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | None |
Depicted on first and second edition OS six-inch and twenty-five-inch mapping as enclosed headland (1842). Described by Westropp as 'a headland 50 feet high with defaced earthworks (overlain by modern fences) and a slightly curved fosse, about 30 feet wide, running from cliff to cliff, and nearly 160 feet long' (1914, 95). Excavated by O'Kelly (1952, 29-35) who found interior to be 'archaeologically sterile'. Visited and surveyed by the Cork Archaeological Survey in the early 1990s (Power et al. 1992).
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1842): | OS 6-inch mapping |
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1914): | Thomas Westropp |
| Excavation (1952): | M.J O'Kelly (UCC) |
| Earthwork Survey (1992): | Cork Archaeological Survey (Power et al. 1992). |
No known structures recorded in the interior
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| No Known Features | ✓ |
| Round Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
No sub-surface features recorded during excavation
| No Known Excavation | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✓ |
None
| No Known Geophysics | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
None
| 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 | ✗ |
Excavation confirmed that this was not the original entrance to the site. Excavator suggests that original entrance may have been lost through coastal erosion (O'Kelly 1952). Westropp's description in 1914 does not record any entrances. This may support the suggestion that the entrance is not original.
| 1: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
The enclosing elements consist of a pair of parallel banks running across the neck of the promontory. The inner bank is composed of rubble quarried from the external ditch and survives to a height of 1.5m. The bank is faced on its W side by stone masonry while the W side has a terraced inner face composed of two steps. The ditch is U-shaped and rock cut with a maximum depth of 2.7m.
| Area 1: | 0.42ha. |
| Total: | 0.42ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.64ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | Single bank and counterscarp bank located to the W |
| NE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SW Quadrant: | 2 |
| NW Quadrant: | 2 |
| Total: | 2 |
| 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 | ✗ |
The bank was composed of a rubble core with dry stone facing to front and stepped inner face. The counterscarp bank was much damaged and repaired over time.
| 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: 1
| ✗ | None |
O'Kelly, M. J. 1952. Three promontory forts in Co. Cork. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 55C, 25-59.
Power, D., Byrne, E., Egan, U., Lane, S., and Sleeman, M. 1992. Archaeological Inventory of County Cork Volume 1: West Cork. The stationary Office, Dublin.
Westropp, T.J. 1914. Fortified headlands and castles on the south coast of Munster. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 32C, 89-124.
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