What is recorded here

Promontory fort in County Galway probably marks Dún Guaire, the chief residence of King Guaire, though writers later misidentified the nearby castle. A substantial earthen bank and external fosse span the neck of the promontory, with a wide gap and causeway marking the entrance. Just inside lies a well-preserved bivallate rath, while a small flat-topped mound sits outside the defences. The sea completed the fort, making the landward bank the only true barrier against invasion.

This promontory fort is defined along its landward side by a substantial earthen bank and external fosse which span the neck of the promontory. A wide gap halfway along the bank, with a corresponding causeway over the fosse, marks the entrance. Just inside it, c. 12m to the NE, lies a well-preserved bivallate rath (GA113-123001-). Outside the promontory fort defences, c. 26m to the NE, is a small low flat-topped mound (11m E-W; 8.5m N-S; max. H 0.75m). It may be associated. This impressive monument is probably the site of the original Dún Guaire (alias Rath Durlais), chief residence of the famed 6th C. King Guaire (Killanin and Duignan 1967, 343) which a number of writers (O'Flanagan 1927, Vol. 1, 297; Fahey 1893, 197; Leask 1973 122; Hynes 1980) have erroneously placed on the site of the nearby castle (GA113-124----). (Westropp 1919, 167-86; Korff and O'Connell 1985) Compiled by: Galway Archaeological Survey, UCG Date of upload: 4 August 2017

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