Dunmacpatrick(Duncarmna) (Site of) — Report the wrong picture

What is recorded here

Dún Cermna on the Old Head of Kinsale is an important Pre-Christian settlement whose shadow still shapes the late-medieval stone fortifications above it. A deep rock-cut fosse, perhaps two and a half to six metres down and six metres wide, may remain from that earlier promontory fort, while nearby fields once held hut-sites until ploughed away in the 1970s. The sea-cliff edge, narrow neck and buried depths suggest a place long used for defense, watching and living beside the water.

Though obviously late-medieval in date the stone-built fortifications (CO137-009001-), across the narrow neck of the Old Head of Kinsale, are built in line with a substantial rock-cut fosse (D 2.5m-6m; Wth 6m) which could be of an earlier date and 'may very probably be a remnant of the earlier promontory fort' (Westropp 1914, 122). The early historical references to Dún Cermna on the Old Head are documented by O'Rahilly (1939,16-20) who identifies it as an important Pre-Christian settlement. Though no apparent traces of prehistoric habitation are evident on the headland itself, much features as hut-sites were evident before reclaimed and ploughed in the 1970s (pers. comm. Eugene Gillen). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 2: East and South Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1994). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009 This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 9/1978).

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