Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database KE008-003 (None)
NMR: KE 008 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 479866 Y: 634646 (IRENET95)
This coastal promontory is located c. 9km SW of Ballybunion, Co. Kerry. Depicted on the OS six-inch maps as Lisheen-cankeragh (little fort of the sheep's head), the headland barely projects NW from the mainland at an altitude of 18m OD. It has suffered greatly from coastal erosion and the interior has been severely reduced. The defences have been drawn in an arc across the neck on the SE and comprise two banks and ditches. The inner bank is 5.6m wide by 1.6m in height internally and stands 3m above the bottom of the inner ditch, which is 2m broad. The outer bank is 6m wide and stands 1.6m high above the bottom of the inner ditch. The outer ditch is 1.2m deep externally and 2m wide (Toal 1995). The entrance possibly lay to the S where a causeway leads into the interior. There are no internal features, but a hut-site is noted immediately SW of the promontory. It is semi-circular in plan, measuring 3.7m N-S and constructed of stone rising to a height of 0.4m. A small opening c. 2m wide exists to the S.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -1087302 Y: 6881913 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -9.767399914891644 Latitude: 52.4500524518583 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Kerry
Historic County: Kerry
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Meenogahane
The interior of the fort has suffered significantly from coastal erosion
| 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 barely projects NW from the mainland at an altitude of 18m OD and has suffered greatly from coastal erosion. Defended on the landward side by a series of banks and ditches drawn in an arc across the neck. The interior slopes from SE-NW towards the sea.
| 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: NW-facing promontory
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✓ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 18.0m
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) and second editions (1914-15) as Lisheen-cankeragh (little fort of the sheep's head). Visited and surveyed by the North Dingle Survey in the mid 1990s (Toal 1995)
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1841): | OS six-inch mapping |
| Earthwork Survey (1995): | North Kerry Survey |
There are no recorded internal features, but a hut-site is noted immediately SW of the promontory. It is semi-circular in plan, measuring 3.7m N-S and constructed of stone rising to a height of 0.4m. A small opening c. 2m wide exists to the S.
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 | ✗ |
The entrance possibly lay to the S where a causeway leads into the interior.
| 1: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (South east): | None |
The defences are drawn in an arc across the neck on the SE and consist of two ditches and two banks. The inner bank is 5.6m wide by 1.6m in height internally and stands 3m above the bottom of the inner ditch, which is 2m broad. The outer bank is 6m wide and stands 1.6m high above the bottom of the inner ditch. The outer ditch is 1.2m deep externally and 2m wide (Toal 1995).
| Area 1: | 0.03ha. |
| Total: | 0.03ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.09ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SW Quadrant: | 0 |
| NW Quadrant: | 0 |
| Total: | 2 |
| 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: 2
| ✗ | None |
Toal, C. 1995. North Kerry Archaeological Survey. Dingle
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