Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Northern Ireland Sites and Monuments Record ANT004:022 (None)
NMR: ANT 004 (None)
SM: None
NGR: None
X: 709878 Y: 942903 (IRENET95)
This coastal promontory, depicted as 'Doon' on the OS six-inch map, is situated at 'Doney Gregor Head' c. 2km NW of Ballycastle in Co. Antrim. Reduced to a roughly triangular platform, it measures c. 25m N-S by 35m E-W and is eroding into the sea at W, N and E. It projects N from the mainland and commands expansive views over the sea in an arc from Ballycastle Bay to the SE to Knocklayd to the SW. Traces of a ditch measuring 2.5m wide and 0.7m deep cut across the neck of the promontory immediately N of the modern field boundary. It is densely overgrown but appears to span the entire width of the promontory. There are no recorded features within the interior of the platform which is almost level on the W side. The E extent slopes down to the E and is entirely covered in gorse and scrub. According to Fagan in the parish memoirs, the site is known as 'Duinnagregor' and was the seat of an ancient castle, however, there are no surface remains of any such structure.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -698317 Y: 7404894 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -6.27309034764464 Latitude: 55.22108840886482 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Northern Ireland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Antrim
Historic County: Antrim
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Carnduff
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 | ✗ |
Defined by a roughly triangular platform, c. 25m N/S by 3m E/W, falling to the sea at W, N and E, it barely projects N from the mainland commanding superb views over the sea in an arc from N-E, of Ballycastle Bay to the SE and of Knocklayd to the SW. Traces of a ditch are evident to the N measuring 2.5m wide and 0.7m deep.
| 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: N-facing promontory
| North | ✓ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 40.0m
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: | Possible remains of a caslte. |
Marked as 'Doney Gregor Head' on the first edition OS six-inch map. According to Fagan in the parish memoirs (1838), the site is known as 'Duinnagregor' and was the seat of an ancient castle. Visited by the Archaeological Survey of Northern Ireland in 1994.
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1838): | Fagan (Parish Memoirs) |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1840): | OS six-inch mapping |
| Earthwork Survey (1994): | Archaeological Survey of Northern Ireland |
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 | ✗ |
There are no recorded entrances to the site.
| 0: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
Traces of a ditch cut across the neck of the promontory immediately N of the modern field boundary and measures 2.5m wide and 0.7m deep. It is densely overgrown and appears to span the entire width of the promontory.
| Area 1: | 0.04ha. |
| Total: | 0.04ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.05ha.
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 |
www.ni-environment.co.uk
OS memoirs of Ramoan Fagan 1838, Box 15, 5, 2, 65-67
Proudfoot V.B and Wilson, B.C.S 1961. Further excavations at Larrybane Promontory Fort, Co. Antrim. Ulster Journal of Archaeology 24-25, 91-115.
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