Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database MA004-010001 (None)
NMR: MA 004 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 479875 Y: 838209 (IRENET95)
This coastal promontory is situated S of Rinroe Point, c. 3.3km NW of Kilcommon village, Co. Mayo. It is an irregular, fortified headland, on low grassy cliffs projecting N into Broad Haven Bay between narrow creeks. On the SE a natural hollow has been adapted and deepened to form a ditch curving round onto the lip of the NE creek (Westropp 1912, 135). It measures 8.2m wide at the top and 3.6m at the bottom at a depth of 1.8m. Further scarping has created a causeway 1.8m wide approaching along the SW margin. A rampart partly encloses the summit of the promontory, which measures 51m long NW-SE. For the most part this comprises a low earthen bank 7.6m wide, but on the SE it is a wall of large blocks 1.8m wide, standing 1.2m high over the level of the interior and c. 6m above the bottom of the ditch. A number of rectangular buildings are recorded within the interior of the site; built of mortared stone, they are presumably medieval in origin.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -1095898 Y: 7223087 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -9.844616901231985 Latitude: 54.278546177883335 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Mayo
Historic County: Mayo
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Dooncarton
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 | ✗ |
An irregular, fortified headland, it stands on low grassy cliffs between narrow creeks projecting N into Broad Haven Bay. It is defended to the SE by a ditch and stone rampart.
| 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: 5.0m
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: | Medieval fortification |
The site is depicted as 'Dooncarton' on the first edition OS six-inch map (1839) and identified as the site of a castle. Noted by Caesar Otway in 1841 as a 'sorry sort of fortification, consisting of a dry ditch and a stone wall thrown across a narrow neck leading to a promontory of less than an acre, on which are fortifications of a few rude buildings'. Visited and surveyed by Thomas Westropp in 1912.
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1839): | OS six-inch mapping |
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1841): | Caesar Otway |
| Earthwork Survey (1912): | Thomas Westropp |
A number of rectangular buildings recorded within the interior of the site are composed of stone and mortar and are presumably of medieval origin. These are described by Westropp (1912, 134) as a porters lodge, a large house with two very small cells, a main house '47 feet north-west and south-east by 30 feet wide over all, the walls 6 feet thick'. Two other buildings are described by him along with a large hall. Another small house foundation is noted outside the fort at the end of the NE creek.
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 | ✗ |
Scarped to form a causeway 1.8m wide on the SW margin
| 1: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (South east): | Ramp |
On the SE a natural hollow has been adapted and deepened to form a ditch curving round onto the lip of the NE creek (Westropp 1912, 135). It measures 8.2m wide at the top and 3.6m at the bottom at a depth of 1.8m. Further scarping has created a causeway 1.8m wide approaching along the SW margin. A rampart partly encloses the summit of the promontory, which measures 51m long NW-SE. For the most part this comprises a low earthen bank 7.6m wide, but on the SE it is a wall of large blocks 1.8m wide, standing 1.2m high over the level of the interior and c. 6m above the bottom of the ditch.
| Area 1: | 0.14ha. |
| Total: | 0.14ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.18ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SW Quadrant: | 1 |
| 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 wall and 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 |
| ✓ | None |
Number of Ditches: 1
| ✗ | None |
Browne, C. 1895. The ethnography of the Mullet, Inishkea Islands, and Portnacloy, Co. Mayo. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 19 587- 637
O'Donovan, J. 1838. Ordnance Survey Letters, Co. Mayo
Otway, C. 1841. Sketches in Erris and Tirawley. Dublin
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