Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

IR0827 Ardaturrish More, Cork

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

HER:  Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database CO105-018 (None)

NMR:  CO 105 (None)

SM:  None

NGR:  None

X:  496934  Y:  552895  (IRENET95)

Summary

The site is located c. 4km E of Ballylicky town, West Cork. It lies on a small area of land c. 10m in length that barely projects SW into Bantry Bay at an altitude of 10m OD. The promontory is enclosed by a curving, overgrown earthen bank c. 2.7m in height and an external ditch with an average depth of 1.4m. It is depicted on the first edition OS six-inch map (1842) as a semi-circular enclosure on a low headland. The interior of the fort is almost completely eroded by the sea.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -1056611  Y:  6749466  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -9.491698842408338  Latitude:  51.718943590759366  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Republic of Ireland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Cork

Historic County:  Cork

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Ardaturrish

Monument Condition

While the bank and ditch of the promontory are quite overgrown, much of the interior of the fort has been completely eroded by the sea.

Condition:
Extant   ✓
Cropmark   ✗
Likely Destroyed   ✓

Land Use

The surviving bank and ditch are overgrown with scrub. Most of the interior has been eroded by the sea.

Current Use:
Woodland   ✗
Commercial Forestry Plantation   ✗
Parkland   ✗
Pasture (Grazing)   ✗
Arable   ✗
Scrub/Bracken   ✓
Bare Outcrop   ✗
Heather/Moorland   ✗
Heath   ✗
Built-up   ✗
Coastal Grassland   ✗
Other   ✗

Landscape

Hillfort Type

The fort is located on a slight SW-facing slope at an altitude of 10m OD. It is a small area of land of c. 0.02ha enclosed by an earthen bank and an external ditch.

Type:
Contour Fort   ✗
Partial Contour Fort   ✗
Promontory Fort   ✓
Hillslope Fort   ✗
Level Terrain Fort   ✗
Marsh Fort   ✗
Multiple Enclosure Fort   ✗

Topographic Position

Position:
Hilltop   ✗
Coastal Promontory   ✓
Inland Promontory   ✗
Valley Bottom   ✗
Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop   ✗
Ridge   ✗
Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp   ✗
Hillslope   ✗
Lowland   ✗
Spur   ✗

Dominant Topographic Feature:  SW-facing promontory

Aspect:
North   ✗
Northeast   ✗
East   ✗
Southeast   ✗
South   ✗
Southwest   ✓
West   ✗
Northwest   ✗
Level   ✗

Altitude:  10.0m

Boundary

N/A


Dating Evidence

There is no dating evidence for the site. It has not been scientifically dated.

Reliability:  D - None

Principal Activity:
Pre 1200BC   ✗
1200BC - 800BC   ✗
800BC - 400BC   ✗
400BC - AD50   ✗
AD50 - AD400   ✗
AD400 - AD 800   ✗
Post AD800   ✗
Unknown   ✓

Other Activity:
Pre Hillfort:   None
Post Hillfort:   None

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

First indicated on the 1842 OS 6-inch ordnance survey map as small area of land defended by an arching bank. The site was visited and inspected by the Cork Archaeological Survey in 1985 for the compilation of the Archaeological Inventory of West Cork (Power et al. 1992).

Investigations:
Earthwork Survey (1985):   Cork Archaeological Survey
1st Identified Map Depiction (1902):   Second edition 6-inch mapping

Interior Features

There are no surface features within the interior of the site. It is quite eroded and much as collapsed into the sea.

Water Source

None

Source:
None   ✓
Spring   ✗
Stream   ✗
Pool   ✗
Flush   ✗
Well   ✗
Other   ✗

Surface

None

Interior Features (Surface):
No Known Features   ✓
Round Stone Structures   ✗
Rectangular Stone Structures   ✗
Curvilinear Platforms   ✗
Other Roundhouse Evidence   ✗
Pits   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗

Excavation

None

Interior Features (Excavation):
No Known Excavation   ✓
Pits   ✗
Postholes   ✗
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗
Nothing Found   ✗

Geophysics

None

Interior Features (Geophysics):
No Known Geophysics   ✓
Pits   ✗
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗
Nothing Found   ✗

Finds

None

Interior (Finds):
No Known Finds   ✓
Pottery   ✗
Metal   ✗
Metalworking   ✗
Human Bones   ✗
Animal Bones   ✗
Lithics   ✗
Environmental   ✗
Other   ✗

Aerial

NO APPARENT FEATURES

Interior Features (Aerial):
APs Not Checked   ✗
None   ✓
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Pits   ✗
Postholes   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Other   ✗

Entrances

There are no indications of any entrances on the early 6-inch maps of the site. Archaeological Survey of Ireland also do not record any entrances to the site. Any original entrance may have been eroded away.

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
0:   6-inch OS maps do not depict any entrances through the earthworks

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  ✗

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗

Entrances:No related records

Enclosing Works

Single curving bank, 2.7m in height with an external ditch, 1.4m in depth.

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.02ha.
Total:   0.02ha.

Total Footprint Area:  0.05ha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   Much of the interior of the site has since been eroded away.

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✗   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   1
SE Quadrant:   0
SW Quadrant:   0
NW Quadrant:   1
Total:   1

Morphology

Current Morphology:
Partial Univallate   ✓
Univallate   ✗
Partial Bivallate   ✗
Bivallate   ✗
Partial Multivallate   ✗
Multivallate   ✗
Unknown   ✗

Detailed Morphology:
Partial Univallate   ✗
Univallate   ✗
Partial Bivallate   ✗
Bivallate   ✗
Partial Multivallate   ✗
Multivallate   ✗

Surface Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Surface):
None   ✗
Earthen Bank   ✓
Stone Wall   ✗
Rubble   ✗
Wall-walk   ✗
Evidence of Timber   ✗
Vitrification   ✗
Other Burning   ✗
Palisade   ✗
Counter Scarp Bank   ✗
Berm   ✗
Unfinished   ✗
Other   ✗

Excavated Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Excavation):
None   ✗
Earthen Bank   ✗
Stone Wall   ✗
Murus Duplex   ✗
Timber-framed   ✗
Timber-laced   ✗
Vitrification   ✗
Other Burning   ✗
Palisade   ✗
Counter Scarp Bank   ✗
Berm   ✗
Unfinished   ✗
No Known Excavation   ✓
Other   ✗

Other

Gang Working:
✗   None

Ditches:
✓   Single exterior ditch 1.4m in depth

Number of Ditches:  1

Annex:
✗   None

References

Power, D., Byrne, E., Egan, U., Lane, S., and Sleeman, M. 1992. Archaeological Inventory of County Cork Volume 1: West Cork, 126-130. The stationary Office, Dublin.



Terms of Use

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


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