Hilltop enclosure in Knockanacuig,lohercannan

'This large enclosure is marked on the OS 1st and 2nd Edition maps in the townland of Knockanacuig, though the evidence for a third enclosing element would place the fort partially within the townland of Lohercannan also. Indeed the middle enclosing element form the boundary of the townland of Knockanacuig, the townland curving around to include this area of the monument. The fact that four modern townlands meet at the monument and the townland name, Knockanacuig – ‘the hill of the five’ may be of significance. The site is recorded in the Record of Monuments and Places as a ringfort (RMP KE029-112----) but this seems to only take the inner enclosure into account. The outer defensive elements clearly show this site to be a hillfort, though the inner enclosure may have been a later ringfort placed inside the earlier bi-vallate hillfort. The fort is situated on the summit of a low hill, which forms part of the ridge that extends from the western end of the Stacks Mountains to the northern side of Tralee Bay. Even though only 35m above OD, the site affords expansive and panoramic views in all directions, particularly of Tralee Bay, the northern side of the Dingle Peninsula, the Slieve Mish, the estuary of the River Lee and the western end of the Lee Valley. The site is traversed by the existing Ballyvalley-Knockanacuig road, 35m from its eastern extent and has been severely disturbed and partially destroyed by modern development.. A house constructed in the late 1970's sits inside the site, directly on the inner enclosure, while others are located on or abutting the outer elements of the site to south, west and north. The existence of these structures has greatly disturbed the site and makes an overall view of the defenses impossible. The OS representation of the site shows it to comprise an outer bank that curves inwards to join the bank of the inner enclosure at the north-east. The inner enclosure is partially destroyed and overall very disturbed by the house located on the southern half of the site. However, the bank can be discerned on the northern side, while the line of the bank is preserved in the field boundary to the west. The bank on the northern side is on average 9m wide, 0.45m high internally and 0.50m high externally. The internal diameter of the enclosure was approximately 35m E-W, while the total diameter is approximately 57m E-W. Dimensions on the N-S axis are impossible to assess due to the house and subsequent destruction of portion of the enclosure. An aerial photograph from 1967 shows the inner enclosure in an almost completely intact state and it appears to have a number of features inside its enclosing bank, which are no longer visible. The second bank is visible all round the site but is flattened and denuded at a number of points and is crowned by bushes and trees particularly to the south and west, where it functions as a field boundary. It is best preserved at the south-east, south-west and, particularly the west, were traces of an internal ditch 1.3m in width and 0.30m deep can be seen. On average the bank measures 9m in width, 0.6m high externally and 0.8m high internally. This second bank has overall dimensions of 141m N-S and 132m E-W. On the eastern side this second bank has a break of 25m in maximum width north - south. On the northern side of the is break the bank continues inwards to link into the bank of the internal enclosure, thus forming an inward spiraling entrance to the site. The distance from the eastern side of the existing, modern road to the outermost element of the site on this side is 37m, while the inward curve of the bank is cut by this road at two points. The semi-circular portion of this bank, which is on the eastern side of the road encloses an area measuring 75m N-S and 35m E-W. At the point where the inward curve of the outer bank meets the northern side of the inner enclosure, immediately inside the western boundary of the existing roadway, there is a small sub-circular enclosure. The southern side of this enclosure merges with the bank of the larger internal enclosure, to the south. The small enclosure measures 10m N-S and 12m E-W, internally, while the overall dimensions are 23m N-S and 20m E-W. These two main enclosing elements comprise the features represented on the OS maps and included in the Record of Monuments & Places. However, field survey recorded the presence of an outer element on the west - south-western side of the site. Here a massive, flattened earthen bank up to 17m in width and on average 0.35m in height runs around the hill and can be traced from the roadway to the north through, west to the rear of house plots fronting onto the roadway cutting the site from north to south. The bank appears to be constructed around a natural scarp or shoulder of the hill, equivalent to the 34m (100ft) contour. There are clear traces of an internal ditch measuring up to 1.6m in width and 0.30m in depth, while a slight undulation noted intermittently outside the bank may indicate an outer ditch also. This bank is not visible on the northern, southern or eastern sides of the site but this is undoubtedly due to the modern developments in these areas. The bank is up to 52m outside the middle bank element at the south-west and, if it continued around the monument gives an overall internal diameter of 240m E-W, enclosing an area of approximately 4.5 hectares. The middle enclosing element, as shown on OS maps gives the monument an internal area of 1.86 hectares. The site is described in the minute books of the County Kerry Field Club in the minutes for a meeting in November 1940. It is noted that the site is known as "Stroppenard" from the Irish Strapa an Aird – The High Cliff Steps/The High Cliff Path or Climb (An Brainse Logainimneacha, Roinn Gnóthaí, Pobáil, Tuaithe & Gaeltachta) or "John Huggard's Fort". The description of the site states that the centre of the fort is occupied by a large mound, the mound is encircled by a rampart of earth. Outside this is a level area encircled by a second rampart, "outside of this rampart was a deep fosse or ditch, which was in turn again surrounded by a raised embankment or rampart". Clearly, the description shows the site to have been triple banked with flat areas between the enclosing elements, the middle and outer banks having a ditch between. Local information suggests that as late as the mid 1950’s this inner feature was extant and consisted of a large mound surrounded by a bank and internal ditch, which contained a spring and periodically filled with water. The mound is described locally as having been over 5m in height and was leveled in 1958. The OS 1st edition representation of the inner feature would suggest the presence of a mound, as would the domed, platform like nature of the ground in this area today. This would suggest the site as a bivallate hillfort enclosing an earlier, probably early prehistoric burial mound, though given the lack of clear information on the diameter of the possible mound and the disturbed nature of this area of the site today this is difficult to confirm. Though recent excavations in Knockanacuig [Excavation No: 06E0154], undertaken in advance of a proposed road re-alignment etc., following long opposition, have shown that the middle bank and large ditch, noted in the Kerry County Field Club minutes, survive.' Description from ‘The Prehistoric Settlement of the Lee Valley, Tralee, Co. Kerry; A Landscape Perspective’ by Michael Connolly. PhD Thesis UCC 2008 Date of upload: 6 July 2012