Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

IR1101 Warren, Roscommon (Rindown Peninsula)

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

HER:  Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database RO046-004001 (None)

NMR:  RO 046 (None)

SM:  None

NGR:  None

X:  600727  Y:  754123  (IRENET95)

Summary

Large, sub-rectangular inland promontory fort with a total site footprint of approximately 16.6ha is positioned on the E shore of Lough Ree. The fort is defined by a bank and wide external ditch at the neck on the NW and by Carrownure Bay at SW, and elsewhere by Lough Ree. Univallate with no obvious entrance feature recorded. A number of monuments from various chronological periods are found within the interior. This includes an Anglo-Norman castle, gatehouse and associated buildings, a linear earthwork roughly on the line of the fort defences, a windmill and possible bowl-barrow. The enclosing elements survive best at SW. At the NE end, the defences have been altered and incorporated into the later castle. First map depiction in first edition Ordnance Survey mapping. More detailed earthwork survey in second edition Ordnance Survey maps.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -889335  Y:  7082962  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -7.989032912947345  Latitude:  53.5370515201853  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Republic of Ireland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Roscommon

Historic County:  Roscommon

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Warren

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

Large inland promontory fort position on the E shore of Lough Ree. Large, sub-rectangular area of land projecting SE into Lough Ree. Fort is defined by the Carrownure Bay at W, and by Lough Ree to the S and E. The NW neck of land that joins the fort to the mainland is protected by a bank and wide external ditch.

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:  40.0m

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:   Possible bowl-barrow
Post Hillfort:   Anglo-Norman castle and associated structures.

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

First map depiction in first edition Ordnance Survey mapping. More detailed earthwork survey in second edition Ordnance Survey maps. In both instances, the wide ditch is recorded and the bank has not been depicted.

Investigations:
1st Identified Map Depiction (1842):   First edition Ordnance Survey 6 inch mapping.
Earthwork Survey (1906):   Second edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch mapping.
Other (2002):   Visit recorded in the National Record

Interior Features

A number of monuments from various chronological periods are found within the interior of this large inland promontory. This includes an Anglo-Norman castle, gatehouse and associated buildings. A linear earthwork is likely to be associated with the castle. A windmill closer to the centre of the interior of the fort may be contemporary with the castle. The windmill is located on an 18m diameter mound approximately 2.8m in height and was surrounded by a ditch and external bank. This may be a bowl-barrow.

Water Source

None

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

Surface

Castle, gatehouse and associated buildings, mound, linear earthwork and windmill.

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

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 bank and wide external ditch cutting off landward access to the promontory at NW. The remainder of the fort is defined by Carrownure Bay at SW, and elsewhere by Lough Ree. The enclosing elements comprise a bank approximately 9m wide and 1.1m high and a wide external ditch 18m wide and 1.5m deep. At the N end, the defences have been altered and incorporated into those of the later castle.

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   16.27ha.
Total:   16.27ha.

Total Footprint Area:  16.62ha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✗   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   0
SE Quadrant:   0
SW Quadrant:   0
NW Quadrant:   1
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:
✓   Wide external ditch.

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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