Doonmore

National Monument No. 10040. Doonmore/An Dún Mór and Doonbeg/An Dún Beag: A large promontory projecting SE into Dingle Bay, on the W side of the entrance to Trabeg. Coosgorm, a narrow inlet of the sea, cuts deep into the S side of the promontory about 100m from its SE tip; the isolation of the seaward section is completed by an artificial bank and fosse which extend c. 75m across the remaining neck. Although Westropp (1910, 286-7) refers to the site as Dunsheane, the greater portion of the promontory fort is known as Doonmore, and Doonbeg is the name given to a smaller, inaccessible projection on the S side of Coosgorm. The earthen bank is 10m wide at base, 3m high internally, and 6.6m high above the base of the fosse. A 1.5m wide wall, comprised of several courses of large horizontally-laid slabs, runs intermittently along the top of the bank. The fosse rises 3m to the field beyond, at which level it is 8 to 9m wide. The presence of some very large stones at the base of a field wall outside the fosse suggested to Westropp that this, 'at least in part', formed an outer defence work. However, except for the extreme W end, it does not follow the line of the fosse but swings away to run NE to the cliff edge. At the W end of the defences a 4m wide causewayed entrance provides access to the interior. At the E end, although the fosse extends to the cliff edge, the bank stops short of it, and Westropp described 'an old-looking gateway' here. The stumps of the 2 pillar stones stand 1.5m apart at this point. Westropp also recorded a Man-made underground passage at the foot of the inner edge of the bank. This is not now accessible but its position, 10m E of the causeway, is marked by a burrow-like hole, some large stones, and subsidence of the bank immediately to E. A low, earthen field boundary extends SE across the interior from the causeway to the cliff edge. Westropp noted 3 circular hut-sites along the cliff edge to NE of this. These could not be located. However, 4 possible hut-sites are closely grouped near the cliff edge to SW of the boundary, and a 5th occurs near the S side of Coosgorm. They consist of circular depressions excavated back into the sloping ground on one side and enclosed by a low bank on the other. They range in diameter from 3 to 5.5m. Doonbeg is now linked to the mainland by only a narrow isthmus which falls very steeply from Doonmore, the descent being almost sheer in places. Beyond this is a small, upstanding triangle of land enclosed by a bank. In 1910 (Westropp, 286-7), a fosse was visible across the grassy slope 'just above the saw-like remnant of the neck’. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 270.