Old town of Doneraile (Site of) — Oldcourt (fermoy By.)

At junction of Awbeg and Bregoge Rivers, immediately S of Old Court graveyard (CO017-08301-); now part of Doneraile Golf Course. Roughly-rectangular promontory (c. 80m N-S; c. 60m E-W) bounded E->W by steep-sided descent to floor of river valleys; descent on E side has been landscaped and cleared of overgrowth as part of golf course; noticeably steep and overgrown on W side but less so to S. Across neck of promontory two levelled banks visible on aerial photograph (CASAP 1998). Site inspection noted low two low grass-covered undulations crossing fairway of golf course. This appears to be site of Dún ar aill (Doneraile) as identified by Jones (1902, 232-3); 1937 OS 6-inch map (after Jones: Field Memorandum A/109/140) mark this as 'Old Town of Doneraile (site of)' , though symbol on map slightly misplaced to E. However, Power (1932, 102) locates 'the name-giving dun' on site of 'later castle' (presumably CO017-086---). According to Jones (ibid.) 'in the year 1130 a family of the clan called Deena or Deagha built their doons or forts' on this site; however, Jones gives no reference for this information which must therefore be treated with some caution. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009