Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Plan of Dunbeg Promontory fort, showing areas investigated in 1977 (Barry 1981)
The site is composed of four stone and earth banks, which serve to cut off and defend a small
seaward promontory from the land. A further stone-built rampart is the innermost defence. It
was originally built as a straight wall, but became curved as the result of later remodelling and
reconstruction. Even in its original form, this wall is of two periods. The inner face of is the
older and was erected as a single entity. It was later added to and strengthened on its landward
face. It is part of this large stone rampart that has fallen into the sea. At the innermost portion
of the site is a stone house, or clochn, with a sub-circular external plan, but square interior.
It is linked to the covered entrance in the stone rampart by a flagged path, and was provided
with a curving, lintelled drain to keep water away from the interior. A souterrain leads from
the interior of the site towards the landward defences.
View from inside clochn, through doorway, along flagged path, to entrance through stone
rampart
External (landward) face of stone rampart on left with earthen and stone bank in
foreground
Kerr, T., Harney, L., Kinsella, J., O'Sullivan, A. & McCormick, F. 2010 Early Medieval
dwellings and settlements in Ireland. AD400-1100. Vol. 2: Gazetteer of site descriptions.
Dublin. [Volume 1 available: here]
Waddell, J. 2000 The prehistoric archaeology of Ireland. 2nd edn. Bray. [1998
version available free]