Promontory fort - coastal

The National Monuments Service's description

This broad promontory, known locally as Doonroe/An Dún Rua, is located on sheer cliffs at the N side of Valencia Island. D-shaped in plan, it measures 74m wide at its landward end and is 58m long. It is defended by an arrangement of two banks and rock-cut fosses that are traversed by a causeway (Westropp 1912, 302-4). The level of the interior of the fort rises gradually from its landward end towards its centre, where it drops sharply towards the N edge. A pair of conjoined huts occurs in its interior.
The landward defences curve from WSW to ENE and are in a better state of preservation W of the entrance, which is located close to the ENE cliff-edge terminal. The outer fosse is 76m long and averages 4.1m wide. Though Westropp recorded it as 5 feet (1.52m) deep, it now varies between 1m and .45m in depth. It rises 1m to the crest of the outer bank, which measures 2.1m in maximum width. This bank falls 1m to the base of the inner fosse, which varies from 2.4m to 4.5m wide. The inner bank rises to a maximum height of 2.6m above this, and falls .6m internally. It averages 4.8m in basal width and, according to Westropp, was surmounted by the remains of a drystone wall. No indication of this wall is preserved today. The entrance causeway is 12.8m long and 2m wide. At its inner end are at least six prostrate slabs, whose average dimensions are 1.5m x .5m x .3m. According to Westropp these slabs originally stood upright, forming the sides of an entrance passage or gateway. One large slab, set on edge, occurs in the inner fosse.

The above description is derived from A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan (compilers), 'The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry'. Cork University Press (1996), no. 445. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 28 July 2013