Loher Fort

National Monument No. 611. Internal diam. 18.4m N-S, 19.8m E-W. Loher Fort/Cathair an Lóthair: This substantial caher is located on the lower W slopes of Farraniaragh mountain, commanding an impressive view over Ballinskelligs Bay to W. Excavations at the site, undertaken by O'Flaherty in the early 1980s, revealed that the caher wall featured a terraced inner face and enclosed the well-preserved remains of two drystone-built houses, one circular (1) and the other rectangular (2). Stratigraphic and other evidence indicated that the rectangular house post-dated the circular one, in which there is an entrance to a Man-made underground passage, and that several timber or stone structures pre-dated these two houses (O'Flaherty 1986, 26-7). Caher Wall: This consists of a rubble core faced internally and externally with random courses of well-built drystone masonry. Much of the external face, which is battered, is concealed by a substantial build-up of collapse and field-clearance material. The wall, which is up to 4m in basal thickness, varies in external height from 1m to 2.5m and internally from 2.5m to 3.3m. A lintel-covered paved entrance passage, 4m long, 1.35m wide and 1.7m high, leads into the interior of the site from SSE. A terrace, reached by means of seven inset arrangements of opposing steps, occurs on the internal face of the caher wall at an average height of 1.3m. The arrangements of steps occur at irregularly spaced intervals, and the individual sections of the terrace to which they give access average .6m wide. Traces of a short section of a second terrace, also furnished with steps, occur above the first in the N sector of the wall. Houses: (1) (KE106-015001-) This circular drystone house, 6.6m in internal diameter, occupies the NE quadrant of the site's interior where it abuts the enclosing wall. Its wall is preserved to an average height of 1.3m and an entrance, .8m wide, is located at S. The entrance to a Man-made underground passage (KE106-015002-) is located in the W half of the interior of the house. Measuring 1.1m x 1.3m, it gives access to a drystone-built lintelled passage, 1m high, which runs E-W for 3m before turning sharply to N. The excavation revealed that the construction of the Man-made underground passage post-dated that of the house, and that an earlier stone-built circular structure (KE106-015008-) in the area of the house was, in turn, pre-dated by a wooden structure constructed of driven stakes. (2) (KE106-015006-) Occupying much of the W half of the interior of the site, this rectangular house measures 7.55m N-S x 6.3m E-W internally. Its walls are preserved to an average height of 1.2m and consist of a rubble core faced internally and externally with coursed drystone masonry. An entrance, 1m wide, is located in the S end-wall from which a paved pathway leads to the caher entrance. The NE angle of this house abuts the external face of house (1). The excavation revealed that the rectangular house was preceded by a circular example constructed of driven stakes. A possible post-built structure was also identified in this area. A network of old field walls (KE106-015005-), some of which are curvilinear, occurs in the vicinity of the site and is overlain by the modern field system (Plate X). Cork University Press (1996), no. 609.