What is recorded here

Benagh promontory fort in County Louth used two inland rivers and a natural scarp instead of sea cliffs, leaving only the landward side for an earthen bank and ditch. Inside about twenty-four metres of ground, a small circular hut and a locally remembered souterrain fit a compact lived place rather than a grand castle. In 1985 reclamation levelled the fort the same year a preservation order arrived, but the dug-open souterrain appeared where tradition had long suggested it would hide. What remains is the shape remembered: rivers doing half the defence, people doing the rest, and loss arriving with the law instead of after it.

According to Stubbs (CLAJ 1921, 29) a fort known as 'the Dún' stood at Dunany Point but was destroyed by coastal erosion. No visible surface traces. The following description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 17 July 2007

This remains an important historical record, but the official description says the monument is no longer visible or has been destroyed. The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.