Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database CO136-100 (None)
NMR: CO 136 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 547873 Y: 537077 (IRENET95)
This coastal promontory is situated c. 2km SW of Butlerstown village on the W coast of Co. Cork, at Coosboy Cove. It can be described as a rectangular area projecting W into Dunworley Bay at an altitude of 5m OD, with an overall site footprint of 0.28ha. Westropp (1914, 96) recorded that the sea had cut 'a deep cove' into N part of interior leaving a narrow spur projecting on this side. He also noted a deep ditch and high bank crossing the neck on the landward side which continued along the projecting spur. A small section of this bank now survives on the N side measuring 3.15m in height, however, it is rapidly collapsing into the sea. The external ditch survives to a depth of 3.4m with a possible causeway to S. A counterscarp bank is also present measuring 1m in height. Westropp records the interior as '57 feet long and wide', however it continues to suffer badly from coastal erosion, particularly along the edges. A gravel quarry on the S side just inside the ditch has also caused considerable damage.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -974290 Y: 6725219 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -8.752191673327973 Latitude: 51.5838058669827 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Cork
Historic County: Cork
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Dunworly
While most of the defences survive in relatively good condition, much of the interior of the site has been eroded away.
| 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 can be described as a rectangular area projecting W into Dunworley Bay at an altitude of 5m OD.
| 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: 5.0m
N/A
There is dating material available for the site.
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 six-inch OS map. Surveyed by Westropp (1914, 96-7) who noted that the sea had cut 'a deep cove' into N part of interior leaving a narrow spur projecting on this side. He observed deep ditch and high bank crossing neck and continuing along the projecting spur. Site was subsequently visited and inspected by the Cork Archaeological survey in 1986 who noted that the promontory was much eroded with bank on N side collapsing into the sea (Power et al. 1992).
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1902): | 6-inch mapping |
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1914): | Westropp |
| Earthwork Survey (1986): | Cork Archaeological Survey |
Small gravel quarry on S side of interior just inside the ditch. There are no other recorded features in the interior of the site.
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 | ✗ |
A possible causeway across the ditch is recorded to the S
| 1: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (South east): | A possible causeway across the ditch is recorded at the south end of the ditch |
Westropp (1914, 96) recorded sea had cut 'a deep cove' into N part of interior leaving a narrow spur projecting on this side. He noted a deep ditch and high bank crossing neck on the E and continuing along the projecting spur. Small section of bank (H 3.15m) now remains on N side but is collapsing into sea. The ditch survives to a depth of 3.4m with a possible causeway at the S end. Remains of counterscarp bank also present (H 1m).
| Area 1: | 0.19ha. |
| Total: | 0.19ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.28ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SE Quadrant: | None |
| SW Quadrant: | None |
| NW Quadrant: | None |
| Total: | 1 |
| Partial Univallate | ✓ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
Small section of bank (H 3.15m) now remains on N side but is collapsing into sea. Remains of counterscarp bank also present (H 1m).
| 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 ditch survives to a depth of 3.4m with a possible causeway at the S end |
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. 1914. Fortified headlands and castles on the south coast of Munster. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 32C, 104-105.
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