Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

IR1083 Castlecarra, Mayo (Doon Wood.)

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

HER:  Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database MA099-018 (None)

NMR:  MA 099 (None)

SM:  None

NGR:  None

X:  516423  Y:  775580  (IRENET95)

Summary

Irregular shaped inland promontory fort with a total site footprint of approximately 12.1ha positioned at E shore of Lough Carra. The fort projects SW into the lake. A narrow neck of land joins the fort to the mainland at the NE, where access is barred by a substantial wall reduced to a stone bank and topped by a field wall. The remainder of the fort is defined by the lake. A simple break at the centre of the wall is likely to be a later feature (Lavelle 1994). Lavelle (1994) records two enclosures within the interior at the W end, beside the shoreline. Wall survives well throughout its length. The entire interior is under dense tree cover. First map depiction in first edition Ordnance Survey mapping. Also depicted in the second edition Ordnance Survey maps where the enclosing elements are depicted as a large field boundary.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -1031529  Y:  7117904  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -9.266384145752214  Latitude:  53.72318345110483  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Republic of Ireland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Mayo

Historic County:  Mayo

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Castlecarra

Monument Condition

None

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 E shore of Lough Carra. Promontory projecting SW into Lough Carra. A narrow neck of land that joins the fort to the mainland at the NE is protected by a substantial wall and is defined elsewhere by the lake.

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:  19.0m

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:   None

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

First map depiction in first edition Ordnance Survey mapping. Also depicted in the second edition Ordnance Survey maps. Enclosing elements depicted as a large field boundary.

Investigations:
1st Identified Map Depiction (1842):   First edition 6 inch Ordnance Survey mapping.
Other (1906):   Second edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch mapping.
Other (1994):   Site survey by Lavelle.

Interior Features

Lavelle (1994) records two enclosures within the interior at the W end, beside the shoreline.

Water Source

None

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

Surface

Two enclosures

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

NO APPARENT FEATURES

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

Entrances

Simple entrance break at centre of enclosing elements may not be original (Lavelle 1994).

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
1:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  ✗

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗

Entrances:No related records

Enclosing Works

Irregular shaped promontory projecting SW into Lough Carra. A narrow neck of land that joins the fort to the mainland at the NE is protected by a substantial stone wall reduced to a stone bank and is defined elsewhere by the lake. Lavelle (1994) notes that the bank comprises a dry-stone wall that measures 114m in length, 15m in width and 2.2m in maximum height and is topped by a later field boundary.

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   11.97ha.
Total:   11.97ha.

Total Footprint Area:  12.05ha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✗   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   1
SE Quadrant:   0
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:
✗   None

Number of Ditches:  None

Annex:
✗   None.

References

Lavelle, D. 1994. An Archaeological Survey of Ballinrobe and District: Including Lough Mask and Lough Carra. F'S, Dublin.



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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