Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database CL046-004 (None)
NMR: CL 046 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 489833 Y: 665212 (IRENET95)
This coastal promontory, depicted as 'Doonegall' on the first edition (1839) OS six-inch map, is situated at 'Donegal Point' on the W coast of Co. Clare, c. 5km N of Kilkee. It is an irregular headland of c. 6.8ha that projects NW from the mainland between Bealnalicka Bay to the N and Farrihy Bay to the S. The defences comprise a large bank and ditch, which have been drawn across the neck on the SE over a distance of 168m in a straight line to incorporate a natural linear chasm. The crest of the bank rises 2m-4m high above the interior and appears to be 12.8m wide at the base, but Westropp notes that this is partly natural (1907, 38). Nevertheless, the effect is to create a rampart standing 6m-7m above the bottom of the ditch, which is no less than 4.8m wide at the bottom. An entrance is recorded 30m S of the N cliff and comprises a simple gap approached by a causeway over the ditch. The bank has not been carried along the lip of the chasm in the middle of the neck, which is evidently a collapsed sea cave. There are no recorded internal features within the promontory except 'some large ponds of grotesque shape that may belong to the settlement' (ibid.,39). The site is currently under pasture.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -1072118 Y: 6932617 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -9.630999421215309 Latitude: 52.726771144177036 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Clare
Historic County: Clare
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Ballard
Heavy erosion along the SW flank
| 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 forms an irregular headland of c. 6.8ha that projects NW from the mainland between Bealnalicka Bay to the N and Farrihy Bay to the S. The site is defended to the SE by a large bank and ditch supplemented by a natural chasm running in a N-S direction for c. 168m.
| 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: 20.0m
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 depicted as 'Donegall Point' on the first edition (1839) OS six-inch map. Bank and ditch marked as hachured line in second edition 25-inch map. Visited and surveyed by Westropp in 1907 who recorded the defences.
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1839): | OS six-inch map |
| Earthwork Survey (1907): | Thomas Westropp |
Apart from two natural ponds, 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 | ✗ |
An entrance is recorded 30m from the N cliff. It is composed of a simple gap approached by a causeway over the ditch.
| 1: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (South east): | None |
The defences comprise a large bank and ditch, which have been drawn across the neck on the SE over a distance of 168m in a straight line to incorporate a natural linear chasm. The crest of the bank rises 2m-4m high above the interior and appears to be 12.8m wide at the base, but Westropp notes that this is partly natural (1907, 38). Nevertheless, the effect is to create a rampart standing 6m-7m above the bottom of the ditch, which is no less than 4.8m wide at the bottom.
| Area 1: | 4.6ha. |
| Total: | 4.6ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 6.8ha.
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 |
| ✓ | None |
Number of Ditches: 1
| ✗ | None |
Westropp, T.J. 1907. Promontory forts in the "Irrus," County Clare: Part I. The Kilkee group. The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 38 (1), 28-47.
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