Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database CO130-033 (None)
NMR: CO 130 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 493222 Y: 540474 (IRENET95)
The coastal promontory is situated c. 2km SW of Durrus town on the W coast of Co. Cork. It can be described as a small irregular area of land approximately 0.1ha that projects W into Dunmanus Bay at Blairs Cove at an altitude of 4m OD. It is depicted on the first edition OS six-inch map (1842) as an entrenched headland. The small promontory is enclosed to the E by a steep-sided earthen bank c. 4.3m in height with an outer ditch 1.7m in depth running across the headland for c. 48m. Much of these earthworks are collapsing into the sea to the S. These were much less eroded when inspected by Westropp (1921, 107) who describes them as 'particularly intact which may have once defended a long headland'. He observed that the 'sides of the rampart and fosse are so nearly perpendicular that we could only reach the summit by climbing up two strangely gnarled beech trees, growing on the sheltered side of the mound' (1921, 107). He described the ditch as 2.7 to 3.6m deep while the bank was 4.8 to 5.4m high. The interior of the site is very overgrown and rapidly being eroded by the sea, particularly to the S.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -1062167 Y: 6729310 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -9.541609437223382 Latitude: 51.60663142887016 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Cork
Historic County: Cork
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Coolcoulaghta
While some of the defenses survive, the earthen bank is collapsing into the sea to the S and much of the interior has been eroded by the sea.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
The interior of the site is overgrown with bracken and a number of small trees.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✗ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✓ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
The promontory is a small irregular area at an altitude of 4m OD that projects W into Dunmanus Bay. The fort commands an extensive view across the Blairs Cove and down Dunmanus Bay. The eroding defences consist of a large curving bank and external ditch and are overgrown. The interior has been eroded quite considerably in the last century.
| 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 promotory
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✓ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 4.0m
N/A
The site is not 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 first edition OS six-inch map (1842) as hachured promontory. Surveyed by Westropp in 1921 who recorded a large bank with an external ditch that were overgrown. 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 (1842): | OS six-inch mapping |
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1921): | Thomas Westropp |
| Earthwork Survey (1985): | Cork Archaeological Survey (Power et al. 1992) |
Westropp notes 'a little mound inside the garth, on the very edge of the crubling cliff' (1921, 107). The position of this mound made it too difficult to record and it has since been eroded by the sea.
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Westropp notes 'a little mound inside the garth, on the very edge of the crumbling cliff' (1921, 107). This mound is no longer visible, presumably eroded by the sea.
| 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 entrances to the site. Any original entrance may have been eroded by the sea on the N or S sides.
| 0: | There are no apparent breaks in the banks to indicate any possible entrance. |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
The defences are composed of a single, steep-sided earthen bank 4.3m in height and an external ditch, 1.7m in depth.
| Area 1: | 0.03ha. |
| Total: | 0.03ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.1ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SE Quadrant: | 1 |
| 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 | ✗ |
The rampart consisits of a single curving, steep sided bank 4.3m, located on the E side of the small headland. It runs from N to S in a slight curve.
| 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 |
| ✓ | A single external ditch, 1.7m in depth running N to S in a slight curve. |
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.
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