Promontory fort - coastal

The National Monuments Service's description

This small promontory fort, locally known as Doongar, is located at the foot of Canuig mountain on the cliffs between St Finan's Bay and Ducalla Head. It projects for c. 44m from its landward end at NE, where it is defended by a stone wall and a deep, natural chasm, directly beneath which is a sea-arch. It is open to the sea on its NW side, while its SE side is formed by the edge of a narrow inlet.
The chasm is steep-sided and makes the approach to the stone wall of the promontory fort rather difficult. It measures 12m wide, narrowing to an average of 4m at its base, and is up to 9m deep. The stone wall is poorly preserved and is sod-covered, but it appears to have originally been quite substantial. It curves across the landward end of the promontory and has an entrance near its SE end, where it stands to a maximum height of 2m and has a basal thickness of 3.5m. A considerable portion of its external drystone facing is preserved towards its NW end and at its cliff-edge terminal at SE. The entrance, though largely buried by collapse, is well-preserved. It takes the form of a lintelled passage, 1.1m wide, with sides formed of large upright slabs. Three lintels remain in position, while two other examples lie displaced at its exterior. A pair of upright slabs, only the tops of which remain visible, flanks the inner end of the entrance passage. A low bank, 14m long, skirts the cliff-edge on the interior of the site at SE, where some short stretches of external drystone facing are visible. The interior of the site, which slopes down to NW, is otherwise featureless.

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. 443. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 28 July 2013