Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database CO089-053 (None)
NMR: CO 089 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 597420 Y: 562978 (IRENET95)
The site is located c.1.8km SE of Ballycotton village in the townland of Ballytrasna, E Cork. It can be described as a triangular promontory, barely projecting SE into the sea at an altitude of 21m OD between the junction of two stream gullies, 10m to 15m deep and the coastal cliffs. It is not shown on any edition of the OS six-inch maps. Westropp notes that the 'fortmakers selected this spur (fenced on two sides by almost perpendicular banks and for half the third side by a natural fosse) and cut a curved ditch for about 180 feet' (on W side) (1914, 97). The bank is faced of well-built flagstones 0.9m thick. It is c. 3m wide and rises 2.1m over the ditch and 1m over the interior. A possible entrance through the bank is depicted on a drawing by Westropp to the NW. The interior of the site was much overgrown when visited by Westropp in the early twentieth century and he did not observe any internal features. The site is now inaccessible (Power et al. 1994, 64).
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -894722 Y: 6767472 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -8.037422668071207 Latitude: 51.81904545408291 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Cork
Historic County: Cork
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Dooneenmacotter
None
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
The site is much overgrown and now inaccessible
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✗ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✓ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Promontory, barely projecting SE into the sea at the junction of two stream gullies 9m to 15m deep and the coastal cliffs. Defended on the W side by a deep ditch and stone-faced rampart.
| 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: SE-facing promontory
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✓ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 21.0m
N/A
There is no dating 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 |
The site is not shown on any edition of the six-inch OS maps. Described by Westropp in the early twentieth century who notes that the 'fortmakers selected this spur and cut a curved ditch for about 180 feet on the W side' (1914, 97). Visited and surveyed by the Cork archaeological Survey in 1991 (Power et al. 1994).
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1914): | Thomas Westropp |
| Earthwork Survey (1991): | Cork Archaeological Survey |
There are no recorded internal features
A spring is recorded c. 50m to the NW of the site on the second edition 25-inch map
| 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 single break through the defences to the NW. It cannot be established whether this is an original feature as the site is inaccessible.
| 1: | Gap to the NW of the site through bank |
| 2: | It cannot be confirmed whether the gap through the bank is original |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
Fenced on two sides by almost perpendicular escarpments and for half the third side by a natural ditch. Curved ditch on W side measuring '180 feet'.Westropp describes a bank with a facing of well-built flagstones, 0.9m thick, the whole 3m feet wide and rising 2.1m over the ditch and 1m over the interior.
| Area 1: | 0.08ha. |
| Total: | 0.08ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.12ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SW Quadrant: | 0 |
| NW Quadrant: | 1 |
| Total: | 1 |
| Partial Univallate | ✓ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
Earthen bank faced with well-built flagstones
| 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 |
| ✓ | None |
Number of Ditches: 1
| ✗ | None |
Power, D., Byrne, E., Egan, U., Lane, S., and Sleeman, M. 1994. Archaeological Inventory of County Cork Volume 2: East and South Cork, 64-5. 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