Military camp

The National Monuments Service's description

Baginbun Head is a broad promontory (dims. c 400m ENE-WSW; c. 200m NNW-SSE; H c. 20m) with other promontories off it. Richard de Clare FitzGilber, also known as Strongbow, sent Raymond le Gros to Ireland with ten knights and seventy archers to prepare for his own arrival. Raymond encamped from May to August 1170 at a place called Dundunnolf (Dún Domhnail), which was perhaps the name of the promontory fort (WX050-015001-) at the E end of the headland, and Orpen (1898) identified this as being at Baginbun Head. Raymond could then have erected the linear fortifications (WX050-015001-) which run ENE-WSW across the headland enclosing about 22 acres (c. 9 ha) in preparation for a large invading force. While waiting for Strongbow Raymond defeated a large force sent against him here from Waterford (Redmond 1900, 32-50; Orpen 1904, 430-1; 1904a) and afterwards 70 leading citizens of Waterford were held captive at the camp for a time before being thrown into the sea.
The linear fortification of two earthen banks encloses a large area and would have been a suitable camp for an invading force, but it was not used for this purpose. When Strongbow did arrive he had 200 knights and 1000 others with him and he landed at Crook in the estuary, from where he marched to Waterford and captured the city. A feature described in gothic lettering as ‘Strongbow’s Cap’ on the 1839 edition of the OS 6-inch map is within the headland, but this is probably an error for ‘Strongbow’s Camp’. A stone known as the 'Baginbun stone' (WX050-015004-) was found on a cliff-top c. 340m N of the linear earthworks (Orpen 1904, 261-70). It is now removed to a nearby house (WX050-018----). Archaeological testing (E004144) by Martin Byrne in 2010 immediately N of the W end of the linear earthworks produced no related material (excavations.ie 2011: 629).

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload; 12 February, 2014
Amended: 30 March 2021

References

Redmond, G. O'Connell 1900 The history and topography of the parish of Hook, Co. Wexford. Waterford and South East of Ireland Archaeological Journal 6, 32-50, 75-96, 215-34.

Orpen 1904 Baginbun in Hore (1900-11, vol. 4, 429-33).