Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database DG023-001001 (None)
NMR: DG 023 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 581108 Y: 933674 (IRENET95)
This coastal promontory, marked as 'Doon' on the second edition OS six-inch map, is situated at Rinardalliff Point close to Bloody Foreland in an area of cut-away turf. It is an irregular promontory projecting SW into Altawinny Bay at an altitude of 1m OD. On the landward side on the NNE a large ditch measuring c. 12m wide and 3m deep has been cut across the neck to separate the promontory from the mainland. Traces of a defensive wall can be seen along the inner lip of the ditch and along the margins of the promontory, enclosing a rectangular area measuring about 15m E-W by 10m N-S and possibly representing the 'Old Castle' marked on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map, while on the landward side of the ditch the remains of a ruined rubble wall of large boulders can also be seen. Numerous other structures and walls can be seen scattered across the neighbouring part of the mainland, but their relationship to the structure on the promontory is unknown (DG023-001002-5 & 7; Lacy 1983, 221)
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -923548 Y: 7391039 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -8.296375120104358 Latitude: 55.15003388404237 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Donegal
Historic County: Donegal
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Knockfola
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 is situated at Rinardalliff Point close to Bloody Foreland in an area of cut-away turf and regenerated land. It is an irregular promontory projecting SW into Altawinny Bay at an altitude of 3m OD. A number of features were recorded here but it is not possible to say to whether they relate to the structure on the promontory (Lacy 1983, 221).
| 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: SE-facing promontory
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✓ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 3.0m
N/A
None
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 |
Marked as 'Old Castle' on the first edition OS-six inch map and 'Doon' on the second edition. Surveyed during the early 1980s for the compilation of the archaeological inventory of Co. Donegal (Lacy 1983)
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1840): | OS six-inch mapping |
| Earthwork Survey (1983): | Brian Lacy (Donegal Archaeological Survey) |
Besides the foundation of a large rectangular structure, possibly a Medieval Castle, on the promontory itself, a number of rectangular stone structures are also known outside the ditch on the landward side.
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Possible castle
| 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
| 0: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
A large ditch measuring c. 12m wide and 3m deep separates this small promontory of c. 0.08ha from the mainland. Traces of walls around the margins of the promontory, and on the landward side of the ditch the remains of a ruined rubble wall of large boulders. Walls across other promontories on the mainland form separate enclosures, but are more likely to be old field boundaries.
| Area 1: | 0.08ha. |
| Total: | 0.08ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.11ha.
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 |
Lacey, B. 1983. Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. Lifford
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