Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database MA006-001001 (None)
NMR: MA 006 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 502344 Y: 842114 (IRENET95)
This coastal promontory, marked as 'Port' on the first edition OS six-inch map, is situated at 'Fohernadeevaun' inlet c. 3.5km NE of Belderg, Co. Mayo. The penninsula projects NW into the sea to form a hammerhead beyond a narrow neck and runs parallel with the mainland and connected to it via a relatively narrow neck 65m wide. The defences comprise a wall and an external ditch thrown across the neck from ENE to WSW, which is also traversed by a natural fault. The enclosed area measures 7.38ha, most of it moorland, but running out onto bare outcrops around its margins. A dry-stone wall surmounts the earthen bank, which is 6m wide; Westropp records that the wall was in ruin in 1865 before 'the present tenant partly rebuilt it' (1912, 117). The bank rises 2.4m above the bottom of the ditch and 1.2m high internally. The external ditch is 6.4m wide at the top, 3.6m at the bottom and has the remains of a stone facing on the inner side (Westropp 192, 117). The entrance is marked by a causeway and some stone slabs some 60m from the E cliff face. Westropp records slight foundations of possible hut-sites c. 18m to 30m from the entrance. No other information is available for these possible structures. The site is currently under pasture with fine views of Benwee Geevrauna and Horse Island.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -1057647 Y: 7230691 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -9.501008661314378 Latitude: 54.31840571515439 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Mayo
Historic County: Mayo
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Conaghra
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 projects NW into the sea to form a hammerhead beyond a narrow neck defended by a wall and an external ditch
| 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 marked as 'Port' on the first edition OS six-inch map (1839) while the defences are recorded on the second edition map. Surveyed by Thomas Westropp in 1912 who described its location, earthworks and internal features.
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1839): | OS six-inch map |
| Earthwork Survey (1912): | Thomas Westropp |
Westropp records slight foundations of possible hut-sites c. 18m to 30m from the entrance. No other information is available for these possible structures.
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 | ✗ |
The entrance is marked by a causeway and some stone slabs some 60m from the E cliff face
| 1: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (South east): | None |
The defences consist of an earthen bank 6m wide, surmounted by a dry-stone wall which Westropp records was in ruin in 1865 before 'the present tenant partly rebuilt it' (1912, 117). The bank rises 2.4m above the bottom of the ditch and is 1.2m high internally. The external ditch is 6.4m wide at the top and 3.6m at the bottom, and the remains of a stone facing is visible along its inner side (Westropp 192, 117).
| Area 1: | 7.38ha. |
| Total: | 7.38ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 7.75ha.
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 | ✗ |
Stone faced wall surmounted on low 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 |
| ✓ | Stone facing on inner side of ditch |
Number of Ditches: 1
| ✗ | None |
Westropp, T.J. 1912. The promontory forts and early remains of the coasts of County Mayo. Part 1- The north coast (Tirawley and Erris). The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 42, 59-139.
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