Promontory fort - coastal

The National Monuments Service's description

Monacarroge/Móin na Caróige: This small promontory fort, jutting S into Dingle Bay, is referred to by Westropp (1910, 278) by the name of the adjacent field. The interior of the site, measuring approximately 24 x 15m, is enclosed at its landward end by 2 banks and fosses, and along its E and W sides by a low bank which skirts the cliff edge. At the S end a 4m wide ledge of ground is separated from the remainder by a low but steep natural scarp. Seven hut-sites, defined by low, grass-covered banks, can be traced in the interior.
The shallow, outer fosse, c. 0.8m deep, turns N when it meets the cliff at W and continues for a further 12.5m, creating a 1.6m wide ledge along the cliff edge. The outer bank, 4 to 5m wide, falls c. 2m to the inner fosse. The gap through the W portion of this bank appears to be secondary. The inner bank rises from 2 to 2.7m above the fosse and falls 1 to 1.5m to the interior; it is c. 6m wide. The entrance causeway, crossing the defences at roughly their mid-point, is not well defined. It varies in width from c. 10m to 2m, slopes gently down from the exterior and then rises to the interior. A modern field wall follows the line of the outer fosse at a distance of about 2m. A shallow fosse running inside this probably provided the material for its earthen core.
The bank skirting the E cliff edge in the interior forms the back wall of 4 adjoining hut-sites which extend S from the inner defence. The internal dimensions range from 3.4 x 1.9m to 2.6 x 1.5m, and the enclosing banks average 1 to 1.7m in width, .3m in height externally and slightly higher internally. The entrance gaps occur at one or other end of the W walls. Three further hut-sites extend along the W side of the promontory. The 2 northernmost, detached both from each other and from the enclosing bank to W, are oval structures with entrance gaps positioned centrally along their E sides. They measure 5.7 x 2.1m and 5.2 x 1.8m internally.
The 3rd hut-site, measuring 2.4 x 1.5m internally, abuts both the hut-site immediately to N and the enclosing bank to W.

The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 274. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 4 August 2013