Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database LI013-089 (None)
NMR: LI 013 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 558213 Y: 649283 (IRENET95)
Contour fort positioned on the low-domed summit of an isolated hill, 7.5km S of Limerick City. The hillfort has a total site footprint of 1.5ha. There are panoramic views from the summit. Immediately to the NE is a second hillfort, positioned on a low-domed shoulder of the hill (Atlas No.0683). The enclosing elements comprise a pair of closely set banks with an intervening ditch. The outer bank is likely to be a counterscarp feature. There are no obvious entrance features recorded. No evidence for any internal features on the surface. Extensive plough damage has denuded the enclosing elements. The S and W section of the enclosing features are under forestry. Kelly and Condit (1998, 19) have suggested that this is a large henge monument. However, the commanding position of the monument and the layout of its enclosing elements suggest that it is more likely to be a hillfort. First identified by the Cambridge University Committee for aerial photography. Site visit by Kelly and Condit (1998) who partly recorded the enclosing elements.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -959212 Y: 6908105 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -8.616746049272791 Latitude: 52.59321223615743 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland; None
Current County or Unitary Authority: Limerick
Historic County: Limerick
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Friarstown
Heavily truncated by plough damage, but still visible on the ground.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Enclosing elements under forestry, the remainder of the hillfort is under pasture.
| Woodland | ✓ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Contour fort positioned on the low-domed summit of an isolated hill, 7.5km S of Limerick City. Panoramic views from the summit.
| 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: Hilltop.
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 83.0m
S section of enclosing elements are on the townland boundary between Friarstown and Friarstown North.
Boundary Type: Parish/Townland
No dating evidence.
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | Early Medieval ringfort abutting the enclosing elements to the SE. |
First identified by the Cambridge University Committee for aerial photography. Site visit by Kelly and Condit (1998) who partly recorded the enclosing elements.
| Other (1998): | Kelly and Condit (1998). |
| Other (1998): | Visited by Hillfort Study Group |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (None): | CUCAP. |
No evidence for any internal features on the surface.
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 | ✗ |
None
| 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 | ✗ |
No obvious entrance features recorded. The enclosing elements have been heavily truncated by ploughing.
| 0: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
The enclosing elements comprise a bank _ ditch _ bank arrangement. It is best preserved at the E, where the inner banks survives to a height of 0.3m and has a maximum width of 5m. The ditch is 4m wide and is 1.5m from the bottom to top of inner bank. The outer bank is slighter, standing to a height of 0.5m above the bottom of the ditch (Kelly and Condit 1998, 20). This may suggest it is a counterscarp. The S section of the enclosing elements is under forestry.
| Area 1: | 1.31ha. |
| Total: | 1.31ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 1.5ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | Outer bank may be a counterscarp. |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SW Quadrant: | 1 |
| NW Quadrant: | 1 |
| Total: | 1 |
| 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: 1
| ✓ | Early Medieval ringfort abutting the enclosing elements to the SE. Not contemporary with the hillfort. |
Kelly, E. and Condit, T. 1998. Limerick's Tara. Archaeology Ireland (2). 18-22.
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