Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database CO127-002001 (None)
NMR: CO 127 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 456009 Y: 542916 (IRENET95)
The coastal promontory is situated c.3km SW of Allihies town on the W coast of Co. Cork. Depicted as a hachured enclosure on the second edition OS six-inch map (1904).The headland is comprised of a small oval area of approximately 0.06ha (15 N/S by 9m E/W) that projects N into Ballydonegan Bay at an altitude of 12m OD. It is isolated from the mainland by a long narrow piece of land where a stone-based earthen bank (H 2.9m) crosses the neck at the junction with the interior. No external ditch is recorded. There is a break in the bank to SE (Wth 1.5m) with a stone (H 0.9m; 0.38m; 0.15m) on E side, described by Westropp (1921, 5) as 'a gate pier'. Much of the interior has collapse into sea, particularly on NE side. A possible souterrain (CO127-002002) is recorded to W. The site is currently under pasture.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -1122050 Y: 6731758 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -10.07954387865203 Latitude: 51.62028816613349 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Cork
Historic County: Cork
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Cloghfune
Interior much collapsed into sea, particularly on NE side
| 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 | ✗ |
The promontory is an oval area at an altitude of 12m OD that projects N into Ballydonegan Bay. The interior slopes down steeply to N and S.
| 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: N-facing promontory
| North | ✓ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 12.0m
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 six-inch map. Defences described by Westropp as stone-based earthen bank crossing neck at junction with interior. Break in the bank to SE interpreted gate pier due to large upright stone or 'jamb' (1921,5). 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).
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1904): | 6-inch OS mapping |
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1921): | Westropp |
| Earthwork Survey (1985): | Cork Archaeological Surey |
The only recorded feature in the interior of the fort is a possible souterrain inside the bank to the W
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Souterrain located inside bank to the W. Described as a small depression 1.2m in diameter with a depth of 1m.
| 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 | ✗ |
Souterrain located inside bank to the W. Described as a small depression 1.2m in diameter with a depth of 1m.
| APs Not Checked | ✗ |
| None | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✓ |
The fort is accessed through a single break in the SE of the enclosure. It has an upright jamb stone on the E side of the break and may represent an original entrance to the site.
| 1: | Single break noted in bank to the SE. |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (South east): | Break in bank to the SE with an upright stone/jamb on E side. |
The site is enclosed by a single earthen bank that sits on a layer of large blocks. It measures 2.9m in height. No ditch is recorded.
| Area 1: | 0.06ha. |
| Total: | 0.06ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.13ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | Earthen bank on layer of stone blocks |
| NE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SW Quadrant: | 1 |
| NW Quadrant: | 0 |
| Total: | 1 |
| Partial Univallate | ✓ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
The rampart is described as a stone-based earthen bank 2.9m in height.
| 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 |
| ✗ | No ditches are recorded from the site |
Number of Ditches: 0
| ✗ | 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.
Westropp, T.J. 1921. The promontory forts of Beare and Bantry. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 51, 1-16, 101-16.
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