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Promontory fort

Promontory fort, coastal

What is recorded here

You can picture the causeway wobbling underfoot during a storm, people pressing past one another to reach the gentler seaward slope while the sheer cliffs blocked every other escape. The fort still stands on that wide Kerry headland, its landward bank and outer ditch preserving the shape of a place built to control entry rather than resist open battle.
Promontory fort described in 2002 as follows; ‘A large ridge-backed southwest-facing headland measuring 180m long by 100m wide was fortified on the landward side by a 5m wide 1m high earth and stone bank with external fosse 4m across. A parallel bank running across the centre of the headland southwest of the enclosing element may be part of an entrance causeway but a more recent land commission type field boundary running across the headland (as marked on the OS 6” maps) has interfered with this feature and its exact nature is unclear. Vague traces of a subcircular enclosure centrally placed in the interior were visible from the air but could not be found at ground level. Sheer 50’ high cliffs flank the promontory on either side but the seaward slope is gentler and the shore is accessible, although with difficulty. The area is one of hilly pasture and the site is overlooked by higher ground along the coast and 1 mile farther inland’ (Casey 2002, 35, no. M).

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.

What survives
Recorded monument

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