Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database WA027-043 (None)
NMR: WA 027 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 666060 Y: 598527 (IRENET95)
This coastal promontory is located c. 2.5km SW of Dunmore East town in Co. Waterford. Marked as an ÇEntrenchment' on the first edition 6-inch map, the promontory can be described as a triangular area with steep grassy slopes on either flank. The landmass measures c. 36m N-S by c. 25m E-W and projects S into the Atlantic from the mainland at an altitude of 20m OD. Westropp notes that the name ÇRathmoylan' is Çnot that of the promontory-fort, but of a ring-fort further inland, from which the townland is named' (1914, 211). The headland is defended by an earthen bank (Wth 7.5m; int. H 1m; ext. H 2.8m) and external ditch (D 1.3m). Moore observes that an external berm separates the ditch from a modern field bank (1999, 68). There is no recorded entrance to the interior of the site and there are no internal features such as hut-sites.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -783137 Y: 6824509 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -7.035037846645642 Latitude: 52.134654137986395 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Waterford
Historic County: Waterford
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Rathmoylan
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 | ✗ |
This coastal promontory can be described as a triangular area with steep grassy slopes on either flank projecting S into the Atlantic from the mainland at an altitude of 20m OD. The headland is defended by an earthen bank and external ditch.
| 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: South-facing promontory
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✓ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 20.0m
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 promontory along with its defences are depicted on the first edition OS six-inch map (1840) and it is marked as an 'entrenchment' on the second edition. Inspected by Westropp in 1914 who describes the inner rampart as '87 feet long, rising steeply at a slope usually of 1 in 1, for 11 feet high' (1914-16, 212). He notes that the 'fosse was convex, nearly 100 feet long, 9 feet wide' (ibid., 212). Site was inspected and surveyed for the compilation of the Archaeological Inventory of County Waterford (Moore 1999)
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1840): | OS six-inch mapping |
| Earthwork Survey (1989): | Moore |
| 1st Identified Written Reference (None): | Westropp |
There are no recorded internal features
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 | ✗ |
There is no recorded entrance to the interior of the site
| 0: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
The headland is defended by an earthen bank (Wth 7.5m; int. H 1m; ext. H 2.8m) and external ditch (D 1.3m). Moore observes that an external berm seperates the ditch from a modern field bank (1999, 68)
| Area 1: | 0.16ha. |
| Total: | 0.16ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.19ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SE Quadrant: | 0 |
| 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 | ✗ |
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 |
| ✓ | None |
Number of Ditches: 1
| ✗ | None |
Moore, M. 1999. Archaeological inventory of County Waterford, 64-8. The stationary Office, Dublin.
Westropp, T. J. 1906. Notes on certain Promontory Forts in the counties of Waterford and Wexford. The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 36 (3), 239-25.
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