Castle in Danesfort, County Kilkenny (KK023-080----)

On a hill with a commanding view of the surrounding countryside. According to the OS Letters (1839) this monument name is, ‘a corruption of the Irish name Dún Feart, Dunfeart, i.e., the Dun or Rath of the Trench’ (O’Flanagn 1930, vol. 1, 271 (91)). A raised oval mound (diam. 40m N-S; 30m E-W; H c. 4m above fosse) enclosed by a fosse (Wth c. 2m) and a substantial earthen bank (ext. H 1.9m; int. H 1.5m; Wth 8m). Both the fosse and bank are best preserved from NE-E-SE, the fosse being filled in elsewhere. The bank has spread out from S-W-NE and its outer face has been clipped from SE to S. There is a causewayed entrance (Wth 2m) in the E sector. A late 18th/19th-century folly (KK023-080001-) stands in the centre. An aerial photograph (GB89.P.19, 13 July 1989) shows the cropmark of a sub-rectangular bailey (dims. c. 150m NW-SE; c. 140m NE-SW) extending NW from the NW sector. This is also visible on satellite imagery (Google Earth, imagery date 25 April 2021), as is a cropmark of an outer fosse, c. 40m from, and encircling the ringwork from NE-E-S. In 1838 a flat cemetery (KK023-105----) was discovered during gravel extraction on a spur 'extending E' from the ringwork. The exact location of this is not known. See attached: KK023-080----_01 Mound from the SE (26 October 1994) KK023-080----_02 Satellite image (Google Earth, imagery date 25 April 2021) Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 24 August 2021