Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database KE004-006002 (None)
NMR: KE 004 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 486221 Y: 643350 (IRENET95)
This coastal promontory, known as 'Doon Point', is situated c. 2km N of Ballybunion, Co. Kerry, projecting W from the mainland at an altitude of 38m OD. The site is not depicted on any edition of the six-inch OS maps, though Doon Castle is shown occupying a minor promontory on the N margin of the headland. The headland itself is cut off at the neck by a stone bank running N and S over a distance of approximately 78m. It is c. 4.5m in width and between 1.5m to 1.8m in height. Westropp (1910, 24) notes a possible ditch '21 feet wide and 6 feet deep at the centre ... getting deeper to each end'; but this feature is no longer evident (Toal 1995). Doon Castle, of which little remains visible, was also protected by earthwork defences on its S side, where a bank apparently 4.5m wide and c. 1m high extends back along the margin of the headland to meet the main stone bank drawn across its neck. Several other banks are recorded on the headland, but it is unclear whether these formed part of a defensive system or are simply elements in its subsequent enclosure for agriculture. There are no recorded entrances and no other internal features. The headland is currently under pasture.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -1077230 Y: 6896459 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -9.676922829268753 Latitude: 52.52961234709733 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Kerry
Historic County: Kerry
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Doon East
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, Known as 'Doon Point' projects W from the mainland into Ballybunion Bay at an altitude of c. 38m OD. The headland is cut off at the neck a stone bank running from N to S for approximately 78m.
| 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: None
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 38.0m
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: | Mediaeval castle would appear to have been constructed here to protect the paths up from the northern bays. Earthworks extend across the neck of this promontory (KE004-006002,) but whether this defence system is coeval with the castle is difficult to ascertain. This castle has nearly disappeared, and only a fragment of a wall, 2.1m x 1.2m and less than 1m high, remains. |
The site is not depicted on any edition of the six-inch OS maps. It was visited and surveyed by Westropp in the early twentieth century, who recorded the defences and medieval castle. Visited by the North Dingle Survey in the mid-1990s (Toal 1995).
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1910): | Westropp |
| Earthwork Survey (1995): | North Dingle Survey |
There are no recorded internal features
Several wells are recorded on the second edition six-inch map immediately to the NE of the promontory. A spring is noted to the S.
| 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 | ✗ |
There are no recorded entrances to the site, however, a path is noted on aerial photos leading into the interior to the S.
| 0: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
The headland is cut off at the neck a stone bank running in a N/S direction for approximatley 78m. It is c. 4.5m in width and between 1.5m to 1.8m in height. Westropp (1910, 24) notes a possible ditch '21 feet wide and 6 feet deep at the centre ... getting deeper to each end'; however, this feature is no longer evident (Toal 1995).
| Area 1: | 6.48ha. |
| Total: | 6.48ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 8.38ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SE Quadrant: | 1 |
| 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 |
| ✓ | Noted by Westropp but no longer visible |
Number of Ditches: 1
| ✗ | None |
Toal, C. 1995. North Kerry Archaeological Survey. Dingle
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