Bastioned fort

The National Monuments Service's description

This fort, named ‘Mullanashee Fort’, is represented on the OS 1st ed. 6-inch map (surveyed 1834) as a roughly square-shaped enclosure with expansions at the east, south and west corners suggestive of bastions. Hugh Allingham, in his 'Ballyshannon: its history and antiquities’ recorded that the last vestige of the mound on Mullaghnashee having been, it is said, obliterated in 1798, when a star fort was constructed on the hill top, hence the spot is now called Fort-hill.’ (1879, 18) Allingham undoubtedly derived this information from a note by O’Donovan in his edition of the Annals of the Four Masters where he states: ‘According to the tradition at Ballyshannon, an ancient earthen fort, and the mound of Aedh Ruadh, or Red Hugh, were destroyed in 1798, to form a modern English star-fort which now crowns the summit of Mullaghnashee.’ (AFM, vi, 2029, note x) The fort clearly dates from an earlier period and, indeed, it may have been built in 1597 as part of the campaign by Sir Conyers Clifford, de facto Crown governor of Connaught, who went north at the end of July of that year to subdue O’Donnell. At the end of that month Tibbot ne Long Burke arrived under sail from Galway, to revictual Clifford’s forces with provisions ‘ordered by sea’, and to re-equip them with ‘two small field pieces’. Clifford, who had camped at Assaroe, now moved his troops into position around the artillery at Mullach-Sithe-Aedha (Mullaghnashee) where, over the next three days, his forces carried out a bombardment of the garrison at Ballyshannon castle (DG107-053001-; AFM, vi, 2029-30). His attacks on the castle were repulsed and owing to the lack of food and powder Clifford was forced to raise the siege and return south via a crossing near Asseroe, suffering considerable losses en route.
Little surface remains of the fort are visible apart from the eastern and southern banks in the field immediately west of the Church though traces of other elements can be seen in aerial photographs. (Lacy et al. 1983, No. 886)

Compiled by: Paul Walsh

Date of upload: 17 August 2017

References

Lacy, B. with Cody, E., Cotter, C., Cuppage, J., Dunne, N., Hurley, V., O'Rahilly, C., Walsh, P. and Ó Nualláin, S. 1983 Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century A.D. Lifford. Donegal County Council.

Allingham, H. 1879 Ballyshannon, its history and antiquities. Londonderry.

AFM - Annals of the kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters from the earliest period to the year 1616, ed. and trans. John O'Donovan (7 vols., Dublin, 1851; reprint New York, 1966)