Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database CO149-015 (None)
NMR: CO 149 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 500515 Y: 525662 (IRENET95)
The promontory is situated on the W end of Sherkin Island off the SW coast of Co. Cork. It can be described as a small sub-rectangular area of land, approximately 0.08ha in extent, that projects W into Roaringwater Bay from Sherkin Island at an altitude of 4m OD . It is defended at the E end, near the neck of the headland by an earthen bank c. 3.3m in height running in a N/S direction for c. 18m. The bank has an external ditch which is 2.4m in depth. There is no recorded entrance or known break in the bank. The interior of the promontory is level and eroding along the edges measuring 65m E/W by 12m N/S and there are no extant features such as hut-sites. The promontory is suffering badly from coastal erosion.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -1049984 Y: 6705724 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -9.432168236826355 Latitude: 51.47485318973066 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Cork (Sherkin Island)
Historic County: Cork
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Cloddagh
The fort survives in relatively good condition with the bank and the ditch intact. However, the promontory is eroding along the edges.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
The interior of the fort is level and under rough pasture with some coastal grassland.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✓ |
| Other | ✗ |
The promontory is a level, sub-rectangular area of land at 4m OD that projects W into Roaringwater Bay from Sherkin Island in West Cork.
| 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: W-facing promontory
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 4.0m
N/A
The site has not been dated
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 second edition OS map as 'Foilnalour'. The site was visited and inspected by the Cork Archaeological Survey in 1987 for the compilation of the Archaeological Inventory of West Cork (Power et al. 1992).
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1902): | Second edition OS six-inch mapping |
| Earthwork Survey (1987): | Cork Archaeological Survey |
There are no recorded features within the interior of the fort
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 | ✗ |
There are no recorded breaks in the bank that might correspond to an original entrance.
| 0: | There are no recorded breaks in the bank |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
Single bank and ditch recorded to the E, near the neck of the headland. Both run in a N-S direct for approximately 19.5m. The earthen bank measures 3.3m in height while the external ditch has a depth of 2.4m.
| Area 1: | 0.05ha. |
| Total: | 0.05ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.08ha.
None
| ✗ | The enclosed area may have originally been larger. Headland eroding badly along the edges of the fort. |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SW Quadrant: | 0 |
| NW Quadrant: | 0 |
| Total: | 1 |
| Partial Univallate | ✓ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
Rampart survives as an earthen bank near the neck of the headland to the E.
| 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 |
| ✓ | The external ditch runs in a N-S direction to the E of the fort. It is approximately 2.4m in depth. |
Number of Ditches: 1
| ✗ | None |
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.
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