Promontory fort - coastal

The National Monuments Service's description

This site, known as 'Spinkadoon', lies in an area of hilly wet bogland along the very indented coastline of the northern Mullet peninsula. The view along the shore is good and the cliffs drop vertically down to the sea. Situated on a very uneven headland 150m long the promontory fort is defended by a series of low banks and ditches running across the narrow isthmus. The headland faces W and is 70m across its widest point, narrowing to 10.5m at the neck. Two low, 1.5m wide, earthen banks run straight across the neck of the headland. They are 6m apart and 0.50m high. There are insubstantial traces of a wide, shallow fosse to the east of the banks and 26m to the W stands a collapsed wall measuring 1.6m wide which has nearly totally collapsed. There is no trace of an original entrance, although several sheep gaps cross the defences. A recently dug rectangular hollow lies immediately inside the wall and the interior of the fort is strewn with rock ourcrop and loose boulders. The inner pan of the garth is fairly level but the western half slopes steeply down to the S. This site was noted by Brown (1893-6, 641) and briefly described by Westropp (1912a, 197). Another fortified promontory (MA002-007001) and two hut sites (MA002-007002 and MA002-007002) are visible to the south.

These descriptions are derived from the MA thesis of Markus Casey 1999 The coastal promontory forts of Ireland. A survey of counties Sligo, Mayo, Galway and Clare. Unpublished MA thesis, National University of Ireland, Galway and three reports that were funded by the Heritage Council (2001, 2002, 2003). In this instance the entry has been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 5 December 2018

References

Casey, M. 1999 The coastal promontory forts of Ireland. A survey of counties Sligo, Mayo, Galway and Clare. Unpublished MA thesis, National University of Ireland, Galway.

Westropp, T.J. 1912 The promontory forts and early remains of the coasts of county Mayo. Part 2. The Mullet. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 42, No. 3, 185-216.