Cahersabane — Cathair Samháin

Internal diam. 23m Cahersavane/Cathair Sabháin: This impressive caher is located on a gentle W facing slope in rough pastureland on the E side of the Cummeragh river valley. It affords a lengthy view across Lough Currane to Ballinskelligs Bay at W. Surrounded by the remains of a fosse and external bank, the caher rampart features internal terracing. The circular enclosing rampart consists of a substantial rubble core faced internally and externally with unhewn blocks set in well-built courses. The inner face rises in three terraces to the top of the wall, increasing to four for a short stretch at E. A large section of the wall-face has collapsed at SE, where only the lowest terrace can now be discerned. This is .3m high on average above the internal ground level of the caher, though this varies considerably because of the spread of collapse at the base of the inner wall-face; it is c. .35m wide. The second terrace rises .7m above the first and is .4m wide; the third rises .8m above the second and is .45m wide; the fourth, which survives only at E, rises .3m above the third. The external wall-face features an inward batter of c. .4m, and collapse has accumulated against its base at N and SW. The wall averages 2.5m high, but is preserved to a maximum external height of 3.9m at SE. Internally it varies in height from 1m to 2m, and it has an average basal width of 3.6m. A blocked entrance gap, 3.6m wide, is located at WNW. Three later field boundaries radiate out from the enclosing wall, one at the entrance, one at NE and the third at SE. The level interior of the site is featureless apart from scatters of stone which are especially concentrated along the base of the wall. A clear area extending from the entrance towards the centre of the site may be the result of the removal of stone for fence-building. A fosse and external bank, separated from the caher by a wide berm, are preserved from NE to SW. The bank is up to 6m wide, averages .5m high above external ground level and is composed of earth and some large stones. It falls 1.3m on average to the base of the fosse, which is flat-bottomed and measures up to 4m wide. The inner face of the fosse is revetted by roughly coursed drystone masonry, 1m high, which is preserved almost continuously from E to WNW; a further short stretch is preserved at N. The berm between the fosse and the caher averages 10m wide and is featureless except at E, where a short curving fosse occurs between two of the modern field walls which radiate out from the caher wall. This is flat-bottomed, measuring .7m deep and 1.8m wide at base. The above description is derived from A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan (compilers), 'The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry'. Cork University Press (1996), no. 567. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 29 July 2013