Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database DG096-027001 (None)
NMR: DG 096 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 561744 Y: 873568 (IRENET95)
This heavily eroded coastal promontory is located at 'Muckross Head' c. 2.5km S of Kilcar Co. Donegal. It is roughly triangular and projects W from the mainland at an altitude of 15m OD. The interior measures 60m from E to W by a maximum of 30m transversely at its E end (0.13ha). It is is cut off on the landward side by a rubble-cored stone wall, faced on both sides and measuring 2.75m to 3m in width. On the E this has been drawn across the neck in an arc over a distance of about 40m. The wall survives up to 1m in height, especially on the N where it turns W along the cliff edge. A more modern wall has been built on the same line with stone steps (Lacy 1983, 223). Local tradition claims that a lintelled entrance originally passed through the wall, although there is no surface trace of this today (ibid). The interior is level and there are no recorded internal features. The site is currently under pasture and used for grazing.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -956476 Y: 7286332 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -8.59217018407162 Latitude: 54.60891635203847 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Donegal
Historic County: Donegal
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Muckross
Heavily eroded on the seaward side
| 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 can be described as a roughly triangular headland of c. 0.21ha that projects W from the mainland at an altitude of 52m OD. Measuring 46.5m wide at its E or landward side to 7m wide at its W end, the promontory is cut off on the landward side by a ruined stone wall consisting of an inner and outer facing with a central stone core.
| 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: W-facing promontory
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 15.0m
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: | Modern wall and steps added |
The site is not depicted on any edition of the OS six-inch maps. Surveyed during the early 1980s for the compilation of the archaeological inventory of Co. Donegal (Lacy 1983).
| Earthwork Survey (1983): | Brian Lacy (Donegal Archaeological Survey) |
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 | ✗ |
Local tradition claims that a lintelled entrance originally passed through the wall, although there is no surface trace of this today.
| 0: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Other Forms (East): | Stone lintelled entrance no longer evident |
The promontory is cut off on the landward side by a ruined stone wall consisting of inner and outer facing to a stone core. It measures 2.75m to 3m in width and extends in an arc for a distance of approximately 40m to block access from the NE. The wall survives up to 1m in height along the N section but elsewhere is almost flush with the level interior.
| Area 1: | 0.13ha. |
| Total: | 0.13ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.16ha.
None
| ✗ | The interior has been heavily reduced by erosion on the seaward side |
| ✗ | 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: 0
| ✗ | 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