Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database KE053-057 (None)
NMR: KE 053 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 440868 Y: 598392 (IRENET95)
This small promontory is located c. 4km SW of Dingle, projecting SW into Ventry Harbour, W of Paddock Point. It is a long, narrow finger of land measuring 54m long and no more than 6m wide situated at an altitude of 8M OD. The site is recorded on the first edition six-inch OS map (1841). It is defended at its landward end by an eroding bank and ditch extending for 16m in a roughly N/S direction across the headland. The ditch is 0.9m deep, c. 2.7m wide at base and c. 1.5m deep below the top of the bank. The bank rises c. 0.7m above the interior. A 1m wide berm is recorded between the bank and the ditch, though Westropp attributed this to 'cattle horning in hot weather' (1910, 281). A causewayed entrance crosses the defences providing access to the interior, however, only vestiges of this causeway mentioned by Westropp and the Dingle Survey survive. Westropp notes that the interior has been heavily eroded (ibid.)
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -1149216 Y: 6820854 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -10.323578624107759 Latitude: 52.11449142414389 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Kerry
Historic County: Kerry
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Paddock
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 projects SW into Ventry Harbour, W of Paddock Point at an altitude of 8m OD. It is a long, narrow finger of land measuring 54m long and no more than 6m wide. It is defended at its landward side by an eroding bank and ditch extending for 16m in a roughly N/S direction.
| 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: SW-facing promontory
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✓ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 8.0m
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 site is recorded on the first edition six-inch OS map (1841). Visited and surveyed by Thomas Westropp in 1910 who recorded the defences. Site later surveyed by the Dingle Survey (Cuppage 1986, 90)
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1841): | OS six-inch mapping |
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1910): | Westropp |
| Earthwork Survey (1986): | Cuppage |
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 | ✗ |
A causewayed entrance crosses the defences providing access to the interior, however, only vestiges of this causeway survive. It cannot be confirmed without excavation whether this is an original feature.
| 1: | None |
| 2: | It cannot be confirmed whether this is an original entrance |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (North east): | None |
The promontory is defended at its landward side by an eroding earthen bank and ditch extending for 16m in a roughly N-S direction. The ditch is 0.9m deep, c. 2.7m wide at base and c. 1.5m deep below the top of the bank. The bank rises c. 0.7m above the interior. A 1m wide berm is traceable between the bank and the ditch.
| Area 1: | 0.04ha. |
| Total: | 0.04ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.06ha.
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 |
Cuppage, J. et al. 1986. Archaeological Survey of the Dingle Peninsula. Ballyferriter
O'Sullivan, A and Sheehan, J. 1996. Iveragh Peninsula: An Archaeological Survey of South Kerry. Cork University Press. Cork
Redmond, M. 1995. A survey of the promontory forts of the Kerry peninsulas. Journal of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society 28, 5-63.
Westropp, T.J. 1910. Promontory forts and similar structures of County Kerry. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 40, 179-213, 265-196
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