Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

IR1078 Errew, Mayo

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

HER:  Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database MA038-129006 (None)

NMR:  MA 038 (None)

SM:  None

NGR:  None

X:  517310  Y:  812344  (IRENET95)

Summary

Large, sub-rectangular inland promontory fort with a total site foot print of approximately 14.3ha is positioned at the NW shore of Lough Conn. The fort is defined by the lake at the N, E and W and is joined to the mainland by a neck of land at the S which is protected by an 8m wide ditch feature visible in aerial photographs as a vegetation mark. Univallate with no obvious entrance features recorded. A religious house and holy well are visible within the interior. Earlier features include other ruined buildings and enclosures, although it is unknown if these are contemporary with the construction and occupation of the promontory fort. Interior is under pasture, with patches of scrub and tree cover. This site is not recorded in any historic mapping. There is no published archaeological record of this monument.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -1031138  Y:  7180316  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -9.26286581938178  Latitude:  54.05361029501934  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Republic of Ireland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Mayo

Historic County:  Mayo

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Errew

Monument Condition

Visible as a vegetation mark in aerial photography.

Condition:
Extant   ✗
Cropmark   ✗
Likely Destroyed   ✓

Land Use

None

Current Use:
Woodland   ✓
Commercial Forestry Plantation   ✗
Parkland   ✗
Pasture (Grazing)   ✓
Arable   ✗
Scrub/Bracken   ✓
Bare Outcrop   ✗
Heather/Moorland   ✗
Heath   ✗
Built-up   ✗
Coastal Grassland   ✗
Other   ✗

Landscape

Hillfort Type

Inland promontory fort on the NW shore of Lough Conn. The fort is defined by the lake at the N, E and W and is joined to the mainland by a neck of land at the S which is protected by an 8m wide ditch feature visible in aerial photographs as a vegetation mark.

Type:
Contour Fort   ✗
Partial Contour Fort   ✗
Promontory Fort   ✓
Hillslope Fort   ✗
Level Terrain Fort   ✗
Marsh Fort   ✗
Multiple Enclosure Fort   ✗

Topographic Position

Position:
Hilltop   ✗
Coastal Promontory   ✗
Inland Promontory   ✓
Valley Bottom   ✗
Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop   ✗
Ridge   ✗
Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp   ✗
Hillslope   ✗
Lowland   ✗
Spur   ✗

Dominant Topographic Feature:  Promontory.

Aspect:
North   ✗
Northeast   ✗
East   ✗
Southeast   ✗
South   ✗
Southwest   ✗
West   ✗
Northwest   ✗
Level   ✓

Altitude:  11.0m

Boundary

N/A


Dating Evidence

None.

Reliability:  D - None

Principal Activity:
Pre 1200BC   ✗
1200BC - 800BC   ✗
800BC - 400BC   ✗
400BC - AD50   ✗
AD50 - AD400   ✗
AD400 - AD 800   ✗
Post AD800   ✗
Unknown   ✓

Other Activity:
Pre Hillfort:   None
Post Hillfort:   Modern religious house and holy well.

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

This site is not recorded in any historic mapping. Visible as a cropmark in aerial photography. There is no published archaeological record of this monument.

Investigations:No related records

Interior Features

The large interior has a number of features from various periods. This includes a religious house and holy well, and traces of other ruined buildings and enclosures are visible on satellite imagery (SH). None of these are necessarily associated with the promontory enclosure.

Water Source

None

Source:
None   ✗
Spring   ✓
Stream   ✗
Pool   ✗
Flush   ✗
Well   ✗
Other   ✗

Surface

Modern religious house, holy well, enclosure and earthwork.

Interior Features (Surface):
No Known Features   ✗
Round Stone Structures   ✗
Rectangular Stone Structures   ✗
Curvilinear Platforms   ✗
Other Roundhouse Evidence   ✗
Pits   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✓

Excavation

None

Interior Features (Excavation):
No Known Excavation   ✓
Pits   ✗
Postholes   ✗
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗
Nothing Found   ✗

Geophysics

None

Interior Features (Geophysics):
No Known Geophysics   ✓
Pits   ✗
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗
Nothing Found   ✗

Finds

None

Interior (Finds):
No Known Finds   ✓
Pottery   ✗
Metal   ✗
Metalworking   ✗
Human Bones   ✗
Animal Bones   ✗
Lithics   ✗
Environmental   ✗
Other   ✗

Aerial

None

Interior Features (Aerial):
APs Not Checked   ✗
None   ✓
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Pits   ✗
Postholes   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Other   ✗

Entrances

No obvious entrance features recorded.

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
0:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  ✗

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗

Entrances:No related records

Enclosing Works

Sub-rectangular area defined by Lough Conn at the N, E and W and by an 8m wide ditch feature at the S running E-W across the neck of the promontory. This feature has been ploughed out and is only visible in aerial photographs as a vegetation mark.

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   13.86ha.
Total:   13.86ha.

Total Footprint Area:  14.27ha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   The area measurement has been taken to a relatively low the water's edge, and the land currently in pasture is little more than 8ha

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✗   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   0
SE Quadrant:   1
SW Quadrant:   0
NW Quadrant:   0
Total:   1

Morphology

Current Morphology:
Partial Univallate   ✓
Univallate   ✗
Partial Bivallate   ✗
Bivallate   ✗
Partial Multivallate   ✗
Multivallate   ✗
Unknown   ✗

Detailed Morphology:
Partial Univallate   ✗
Univallate   ✗
Partial Bivallate   ✗
Bivallate   ✗
Partial Multivallate   ✗
Multivallate   ✗

Surface Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Surface):
None   ✓
Earthen Bank   ✗
Stone Wall   ✗
Rubble   ✗
Wall-walk   ✗
Evidence of Timber   ✗
Vitrification   ✗
Other Burning   ✗
Palisade   ✗
Counter Scarp Bank   ✗
Berm   ✗
Unfinished   ✗
Other   ✗

Excavated Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Excavation):
None   ✗
Earthen Bank   ✗
Stone Wall   ✗
Murus Duplex   ✗
Timber-framed   ✗
Timber-laced   ✗
Vitrification   ✗
Other Burning   ✗
Palisade   ✗
Counter Scarp Bank   ✗
Berm   ✗
Unfinished   ✗
No Known Excavation   ✓
Other   ✗

Other

Gang Working:
✗   None

Ditches:
✓   No visible evidence for an accompanying bank.

Number of Ditches:  1

Annex:
✗   None.

References

No related records



Terms of Use

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


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