Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

IR1248 Minard West (Minn Aird Thiar), Kerry

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

HER:  Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database KE054-091 (None)

NMR:  KE 053 (None)

SM:  None

NGR:  None

X:  453003  Y:  597928  (IRENET95)

Summary

This long headland, known as Minard Head, is located c. 6km SW of Anasaul in Co. Kerry. It forms the E side of Doonmanagh Bay and consists of a ridge with both sides sloping towards the sea from an altitude of 11m OD. The site is not depicted as an antiquity on any edition of the OS six-inch maps, though its line is implicit in the boundaries of the field-system that is shown. Traversing the ridge at its highest point and running in a NW-SE direction is an earthen bank measuring 3.75m by 0.35m and an external ditch that measures 3.5m wide and 0.35m deep (Redmond 1995, 27). There are no recorded internal features and the headland is currently under pasture. Redmond notes that the bank has no trace of any masonry and is quite different in form to the many field boundaries in the area (ibid.).

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -1129484  Y:  6820707  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -10.146328339729077  Latitude:  52.1136810490065  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Republic of Ireland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Kerry

Historic County:  Kerry

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Minard West

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

The coastal promontory at Minard Head forms the E side of Doonmanagh Bay and consists of a ridge with both sides sloping towards the sea to the SW at an altitude of 11m OD. Traversing the ridge at its highest point and running in a NW/SE direction is an earthen bank and an 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:  SW-facing promontory

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

Altitude:  11.0m

Boundary

N/A


Dating Evidence

There is no dating available for the site

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

The boundary is shown on earlier OS mapping as part of the later field system. Recorded by Marcus Redmond in the 1990's.

Investigations:
1st Identified Written Reference (1995):   Redmond

Interior Features

There are no recorded internal features

Water Source

None

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

Surface

None

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

There are no recorded breaks through the defences to indicate possible entrances.

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

Traversing the ridge at its highest point and running in a NW-SE direction is an earthen bank measuring 3.75m by 0.35m and an external ditch that measures 3.5m wide and 0.35m deep.Redmond notes that the bank has no trace of any masonry and is quite different in form to the many field boundaries in the area (1995, 27).

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   1.28ha.
Total:   1.28ha.

Total Footprint Area:  1.38ha.

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:  1

Annex:
✗   None

References

Redmond, M. 1995. A survey of the promontory forts of the Kerry peninsulas. Journal of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society 28, 5-63



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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