Ringfort - cashel

The National Monuments Service's description

Internal Dimensions 53m N-S, 37m E-W. A roughly triangular area around the summit of Crockacashel Hill enclosed by a much collapsed stone wall. The wall is barely perceptible on the W and S sides where there is a steep drop. The slope is less steep on the E side and here the wall spread is at its greatest. The wall at no point exceeds .75m in height. There is an external fosse on the NE side and what is possibly a roadway approaches the site from the NW. There is a cairn in the SE sector at the highest point of the interior, which seems to have been a trigonometrical station (Boyle-Somerville 1909, 232-3). The remainder of the interior is uneven and slopes from W to E. A small subcircular feature 5m × 2.5m consisting of a single course of stones abuts the internal side of the enclosing wall at the N. Four small circles of stones (DG029-017002-) about 3m in diameter were noticed to the E of the enclosure between it and the second summit on this hill (Boyle-Somerville, 1909, 233, recorded six of these circles). The hill rises directly from the rocky shore of Lough Swilly to the W.

The above description was derived from the 'Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century.' Compiled by: Brian Lacey with Eamon Cody, Claire Cotter, Judy Cuppage, Noel Dunne, Vincent Hurley, Celie O'Rahilly, Paul Walsh and Seán Ó Nualláin (Lifford: Donegal County Council, 1983). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated.

Date of upload: 22 September 2008

References

Boyle-Somerville, T. 1909 Ancient stone monuments near Lough Swilly, County Donegal. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 39, 192-202 and 215-33.