Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database WA025-069001 (None)
NMR: WA 025 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 647484 Y: 598282 (IRENET95)
The site is located on the S coast of Co. Waterford between the villages of Bunmahon and Annestown. It is marked as an ÇEntrenchment' on the first edition OS map (1840) and situated on the promontory of Dunbrattin Head projecting S into Dunbrattin Bay at an altitude of 16m OD. It is a grass-covered landmass of c. 3.69ha on a promontory cut off from the mainland by the remains of an E-W ditch extending across the headland for c. 135m. It measures 6.8m in width and 1.5m in depth and there is an entrance causeway (Wth 4m) towards its E end. The ditch is associated on the inner side with an earthen bank measuring 5.5m wide and 1.5m high internally. There was evidence of three hut sites inside the bank (Westropp 1914-16, 222-4), none of which is now visible. A subsidiary promontory fort (WA025-069002-; Atlas No.0976) is located internally at the W end of the main defences. An enclosure (WA025-069003) is recorded immediately outside the ditch at W end while another (WA025-069001) is inside the ditch at E.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -813344 Y: 6824456 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -7.306392613764496 Latitude: 52.134359977145905 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Waterford
Historic County: Waterford
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Dunbrattin
None
| 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 | ✗ |
Coastal promontory composed of a grass-covered landmass of c. 6ha on a headland cut off from the mainland by the remains of an E-W ditch and internal bank. Projecting S into Dunbrattin Bay at an altitude of 16m 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: S-facing promontory
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✓ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 16.0m
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 marked as an 'Entrenchment' on the first edition six-inch OS map. Surveyed by Westropp in 1914 who notes that the name is 'the same as 'Dunbarton, meaning the Briton's (Welshman's) fort' (1914-16, 223). He recorded the large defences cutting off the headland and notes that they 'are still over 350 feet, and were once at least 370 feet long'. He recorded three 'greatly defaced hut-sites, one with a large white quartz block' (ibid, 224). Site visited and inspected in 1989 for the compilation of the Archaeological Inventory of County Waterford (Moore 1999, 66).
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1840): | OS six-inch mapping |
| Earthwork Survey (1989): | Moore |
| 1st Identified Written Reference (None): | Westropp |
Evidence of three hut sites inside the bank when surveyed by Westropp. These are no longer visible. A possible enclosure is recorded inside the ditch to the E (Moore 1999, 66).
A subsidiary promontory fort (WA025-069002) is located internally on the W. A spring is marked on the second edition 6-inch map directly outside the promontory defences to the NW.
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Westropp recorded three 'greatly defaced hut-sites, one with a large white quartz block' (1914-16, 224). A small promontory fort also lies within the interior
| 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 | ✗ |
The entrance causeway (Wth 4m) is towards the E end of the defences and can be described as a simple gap through the bank with an associated causeway over the ditch.
| 1: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (North): | Causeway across the ditch towards E margin of the promontory |
promontory cut off from the mainland by the remains of an E-W ditch (Wth at E 6.8m; ext. D 1.5m; int. D 1.45m) with a length of c. 135m and an internal earthen bank (Wth 5.5m; int. H 1-1.5m; ext. H 3m).
| Area 1: | 3.2ha. |
| Total: | 3.2ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 3.69ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| 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 | ✗ |
None
| 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 |
| ✓ | E-W ditch (Wth at E 6.8m; ext. D 1.5m; int. D 1.45m) with a length of c. 135m. |
Number of Ditches: 1
| ✗ | None |
Moore, M. 1999. Archaeological inventory of County Waterford, 64-8. The stationary Office, Dublin.
Westropp, T.J. 1914-16 Fortified headlands and castles on the south coast of Munster: Part II, from Ardmore to Dunmore, Co. Waterford. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 32C, 188-227.
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