Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Archaeological Survey of Ireland SMR Database MA075-005001 (None)
NMR: MA 075 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 469986 Y: 787971 (IRENET95)
This 'Shore fort' as described by Westropp (1914, 324) is situated on the N tip of Clare Island off the W coast of Co. Mayo. One of two reduced by erosion to stacks S of the lighthouse, it is marked as 'Doonallia' on the first edition OS six-inch map (1839). Although the maps depict the site as an island, the rock was connected to the mainland by a low neck carrying a stone-faced causeway 1.8m wide and 3.6m high. The crest of the stack is defended by a low earthen bank c. 1m high running around to the N where it stops due to coastal erosion. Two hut-sites are recorded. The eastern measures 2.7m in diameter within a wall 0.9m thick, the western 4.5m in diameter within a wall 1.8m thick (Westropp 1914, 325). Westropp notes that the interior of the promontory was covered with rich grasses but had been greatly effected by 'the great rains of 1910 which had brought down much of the remains'.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -1110396 Y: 7137077 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -9.974853654891987 Latitude: 53.824968031836136 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Republic of Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Mayo (Clare Island)
Historic County: Mayo
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Ballytoothy More
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 promontory is little more than a sea stack situated on the N tip of Clare Island off the W coast of Co. Mayo. Connected to the mainland by a low neck, which carries a stone-faced causeway faced on either side with stonework 1.8m wide and 3.6m high. The top of the slope is defended by a low earthen bank.
| 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: None
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 23.0m
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 'Doonallia' on the first edition OS six-inch maps (1839). First visited and surveyed by Thomas Westropp in 1914
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1839): | OS six-inch mapping |
| Earthwork Survey (1914): | Thomas Westropp |
Two hut-sites are recorded. The eastern measures 2.7m in diameter within a wall 0.9m thick, the western 4.5m in diameter within a wall 1.8m thick (Westropp 1914, 325).
A waterfall is recorded on the adjacent mainland
| 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 | ✗ |
Visible on W side of summit area
| APs Not Checked | ✗ |
| None | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✓ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Although the maps depict the site as an island, the rock is connected to the mainland by a low neck that carried a stone-faced causeway 1.8m wide and 3.6m high.
| 0: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Other Forms (South west): | Approached via a causeway on the SW |
The top of the slope above the narrow neck of promontory is defended by a low earthen bank c. 1m high running around to the N where it stops due to coastal erosion.
| Area 1: | 0.1ha. |
| Total: | 0.1ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.18ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SE Quadrant: | 0 |
| 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 | ✗ |
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 |
Westropp, T.J. 1914. The promontory forts and early remains of islands of Connacht. The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 44, 297-337
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