Doon — Clochán Ceannúigh

Doon/An Dún: This fort, which Westropp referred to as Duncanuig (1912, 312-15), is located on a cliff promontory which projects SW into St Finan's Bay. It is defended by a number of banks and fosses which occur about midway along the length of the promontory. Westropp recorded that the innermost of these banks continued to SE across a sea-arch that spanned a deep inlet, and traversed the narrow adjacent promontory. This sea-arch has since collapsed, and no apparent trace of the bank on the smaller promontory is preserved. The depiction of the monument on the OS 25 inch map, however, appears to confirm Westropp's interpretation of the site as a double promontory fort. The defences on the NW promontory are crossed by a causeway that averages 2.3m wide. A slight outer fosse, 1.9m wide, is preserved on the SE side of this. The outermost bank averages 1.15m high and 2.5m wide and curves sharply inwards for c. 8.5m on either side of the entrance causeway, where Westropp recorded the existence of a pair of stone 'gate-piers'. These are no longer visible, nor is the drystone wall which he noted on the outer bank and at the sides of the entrance causeway. On the SE side of the causeway, between the outer and innermost banks, is a large depression, measuring 6m x 4m in basal dimensions, where Westropp noted traces of a hut. On the NW side of the causeway is a flat-bottomed fosse, 1.8m wide and .8m deep below the level of the outer bank. The middle bank, of earth and stone, rises an average of 1m above this fosse and measures 4m in basal width. The inner fosse is 6m wide and rises 2.5m to the top of the bank that forms the innermost defence. The NW end of this bank curves towards the interior of the site, where modern disturbance has created an L-shaped depression. The innermost bank, which traversed the sea-arch and the adjacent promontory, had some stretches of internal and external drystone facing when Westropp described it, but no such facing is now apparent. The interior of the promontory fort, which measures 34m NE-SW x 21.2m NW-SE, is level. 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. 444. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 28 July 2013