Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database DG097-022 (None)
NMR: DG 097 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 566869 Y: 875497 (IRENET95)
This coastal promontory fort, known as 'Largy Fort', is situated on a S-facing headland c. 4km SW of Killybegs, Co. Donegal, and forms a roughly oval enclosure of c. 0.18ha. The promontory itself barely projects S from the mainland at Rinn Point, and is defined on the SE and SW by sea-cliffs that decrease in steepness towards the E, while on the W it is bounded by a ravine formed where a stream has cut down through the limestone bedrock (Lacy 1983, 223). On the N and NE an earthen bank with an external ditch has been drawn in a pronounced arc over a distance of about 60m to block access from that quarter, fading out where they have been ploughed down towards the E. The bank measures 2.8m high and c. 5.5m wide and has evidence of an external stone facing on the NW. A simple gap measuring 0.75m wide in the bank on the N may define an entrance (Lacy 1983, 223). A line of stones c. 1m apart is said to have been originally present on the internal side of the bank on the N (ibid.). The external ditch is at least 2.55m wide but is visible for a distance of only 10m on the NNW; the remainder of this ditch has been filled in and ploughed over. The interior slopes gradually to the S and there are no recorded internal features. It is currently under pasture.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -947670 Y: 7289733 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -8.513061359217632 Latitude: 54.62660973722441 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Donegal
Historic County: Donegal
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Largysillagh
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 fort can be described as a roughly oval enclosure of c. 0.22ha that barely projects S from the mainland at Rinn Point at an altitude of 11m OD. On the SE and SW the promontory is defined by sea-cliffs, which decrease in steepness to the E, while on the W it is bounded by ravine formed where a stream has cut through the limestone bedrock (Lacy 1983, 223).
| 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: S-facing promontory
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✓ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 11.0m
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 |
Marked as 'Largy Fort' on the first edition OS-six inch map (1840's). 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 map |
| Earthwork Survey (1983): | Brian Lacy (Donegal Archaeological Inventory) |
There are no recorded internal features
On the W side of the promontory, a ravine formed by a stream cuts through the limestone bedrock
| 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 simple gap measuring 0.75m in the bank to the N may define an entrance to the interior
| 1: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (North): | None |
On the N and NE an earthen bank with an external ditch has been drawn in a pronounced arc over a distance of about 60m to block access from that quarter, fading out where they have been ploughed down towards the E. The bank measures 2.8m high and c. 5.5m wide and has evidence of an external stone facing on the NW. A simple gap measuring 0.75m wide in the bank on the N may define an entrance (Lacy 1983, 223). A line of stones c. 1m apart is said to have been originally present on the internal side of the bank on the N (ibid.). The external ditch is at least 2.55m wide but is visible for a distance of only 10m on the NNW; the remainder of this ditch has been filled in and ploughed over
| Area 1: | 0.18ha. |
| Total: | 0.18ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.27ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SW Quadrant: | 0 |
| NW Quadrant: | 1 |
| Total: | 1 |
| Partial Univallate | ✓ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
Externally stone-faced earthen bank
| 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