Promontory fort - coastal

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on one of many NW facing finger-like projections which can be seen along the shore of Broadhaven Bay. The area is one of poor quality pastureland with an excellent view along the coast and across the bay. The headland immediately to the NE was also promontory fort (MA004-009----).

The site is marked on the OS maps and is known as 'Dooncarton'. The site consists of a subrectangular north-facing headland measuring 58m N-S by 28.25m E-W. The neck of the headland was defended by a stone-faced earthen bank with an external ditch. It has a clearly defined entrance causeway and traces of several dwellings are visible in the interior. The bank averages 1.7m in height above the outer field level and 5m above the bottom of the ditch. It is 8m thick at the base and is round topped. Though some stone revetting is visible, there is no trace of the 'wall of large blocks' that Westropp described (1912a, 126). The ditch is steep sided and V-shaped in section, measuring 19.25m in width at the top and 2.9m in depth below the outer ground level. Some stone revetting is visible along both faces of the ditch. A 2m wide causeway crosses the ditch near the western cliff edge. A counterscarp bank outside the ditch has nearly been reduced to a scarp.

The interior slopes gently down to the N and contains the remains of up to five rectangular stone buildings and the faint traces of a bank running around the perimeter of the headland. The walls of the internal buildings have been reduced to mounds of grassed over rubble. Nowhere is any stone-facing clearly visible and the walls remain to a maximum height of 1.1m and now average 2m wide, including collapsed material. The buildings (MA004-010003-) were concentrated along the perimeter of the promontory, leaving an open area in the centre. The largest structure lies along the eastern cliff edge and measures 16m long by 10m wide, with a narrow doorway in the centre of the western wall. A smaller building along the opposite edge measures 10m by 5m, while a third building of similar dimensions lies near the northern end of the headland. All these are aligned N-W by S-E, i.e. along the axis of the headland. Several smaller rectangular structures lie between the bank and the largest of these buildings. There is no trace of the 'porter's lodge beside the bank as described by Westropp (1912a,126). A small circular hut (MA004-010004-) 5m in diameter lies 15m outside the site along the eastern cliff edge. This has an entrance gap at the W and is cut by a modern wire fence. The buildings may be the remains of the houses occupied by the Cormick family in the 17th century, as suggested by Westropp. Since the site was first described by Westropp some erosion has taken place, notably in the SW corner.

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. 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 1. The North Coast (Tirawley and Erris) (continued) Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 42, no. 2, 101-139.