Wakeman's handbook of Irish antiquities

by W. F. Wakeman

One of the most elevated forts in the British Isles is that on Caherconree, the most westerly height of the Slieve Mish mountains. It stands on the shoulder of the mountain, about 10 miles south-west of Tralee, in a commanding situation, at an elevation of 2050 feet, and with a magnificent outlook. The cashel is about 350 feet long, and forms the base of a triangular spur of the mountain, the sides of which descend in steep cliffs for about 200 feet. The rampart is terraced, but is now in a ruinous condition; its present thickness is 16 feet 9 inches at entrance, and its greatest height 10½ feet. It was defended by a fosse and vallum of earth and stone, the top of which ran at about 40 feet from the rampart.[82]

Clare is very rich in stone forts, the remains of about 400 of which are known. Most of these are in the Burren district; they are akin to the great duns of the Aran Islands, and were evidently built by the same race of people. One of the most remarkable of the Clare forts, and one of the largest fortifications of any class in Ireland, is Moghane, which crowns a low hill in the demesne of Dromoland, a few miles south of Ennis. It is much defaced, and has been greatly neglected in the past. It consists of three stone ramparts; the innermost and the second are nearly circular, and their greatest diameters are 380 and 650 feet respectively. The outer is oval, and was adapted to the contours of the hill; it measures 1500 feet north and south, and about 1100 feet east and west. The united length of the walls is about 7850 feet, enclosing an area of 27 acres. According to Mr. T. J. Westropp, who has made a special study of these forts, and to whom archæologists are indebted for his valuable survey,[83] the estimated contents of the Moghane walls amount to about 1,177,000 cubic feet of stone. The inner cashel had two entrances, east and west; the second three, the south-west entrance being defended by a small circular fort; the outer wall had three entrances on the north and one on the south, and it was defended without by a small fort, while another within defended the wall on the west. There are no traces of terraces or steps in the inner face, though this may be due to defacement, yet the probability is, as Mr. Westropp says, that they did not exist here. He is also of opinion that this great fort was hardly built before the coming of the Dalcassians about 370 A.D.

On the south coast of Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands, is Dun Ængus, described by Petrie as ‘the most magnificent barbaric monument now extant in Europe.’ It is built on the very edge of sheer cliffs 250 to 300 feet in height, forming the south and east sides; it is of a horse-shoe shape, and some archæologists think that it was originally oval, and that it acquired its present form from the falling of portions of the cliffs. It consists of three enclosures, and remains of a fourth. The wall which surrounds the innermost is 18 feet high and 12 feet 9 inches thick; it is in three sections​—​the inner 7 feet high, with ranges of steps similar to those in Staigue fort. This enclosure measures 150 feet from north to south, and 140 feet from east to west. The doorway is 4 feet 8 inches high, and 3 feet 5 inches wide, very slightly inclining; and the lintel is 5 feet 10 inches long. In the north-west side is a passage leading into the body of the wall. The second rampart, which is not concentric, encloses a space about 400 feet by 300 feet. Outside the second wall is a chevaux-de-frise, 30 feet wide, formed by sharp stones placed on end, seemingly to hinder the approach of an enemy. Surrounding all is a rampart, nearly destroyed, enclosing a space of 11 acres. Of the same class are Dubh Caher, Dun Onaght, and Dun Eochla, and on Inishmaan Dun Conor.

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The Dingle Forts.​—​For variety and profusion of prehistoric and early Christian remains, that district of Corkaguiny lying west of a line from Dingle to the north-east entrance of Smerwick Harbour, has no equal in the British Isles. Scattered over its surface is an extraordinary number of cashels, clochauns, pillar-stones, early churches, crosses, and other remains. The fine fortification of Ballyheabought, two miles north of Dingle, consists of a stone-faced earthen rampart 12 to 14 feet thick, enclosing an area of about 100 feet in diameter, with a continuous narrow platform about 3 feet above the present level of the court. It is surrounded by a fosse 25 feet in width, the greatest depth being 20 feet. Beyond this is another breastwork, 10 feet thick, faced on the exterior with stones, with a second but smaller fosse without. The entrance was from the west; and the remains show that a massive stone doorway once existed in the ramparts. In the inner area are the remains of several clochauns; the principal one is 18 feet internal diameter; a portion is cut off into a separate chamber; and a low passage connects this with a small semicircular compartment to the south. Without the group to the north is a row of upright flagstones forming a passage to a round oblong clochaun to the west. A wall to the south connects the circular group with the rampart, thus shutting off what was probably the women’s portion of the fort.

The primitive remains, numbering from seventy to eighty, lying between Ventry and Mount Eagle, which rises over the Blasket Sound to the north of Slea Head, were, for the first time, fully described after a proper survey by Du Noyer in 1858. Of these the Fahan group of forts and stone huts is the most remarkable, and shows that a considerable population must have inhabited this wild and remote spot at a very early date. At Coumenoole are ten clochauns. Glen Fahan has six forts containing eighteen clochauns, a triple clochaun, and twenty-three others detached. The triple clochaun is known as Caher Fada an Doruis, the ‘Long fort of the door.’ It has been cleared out in recent years. The east and central chambers are connected by a passage 8 feet long; they are circular, and measure 13 feet and 18 feet in diameter internally. The west cell is semicircular; it is connected with the central by a passage 6 feet long, and measures 10 feet by 14 feet. The main cell is entered from the south-east by a sloping passage; and a winding flight of steps, now imperfect, ran round the roof to the top. In Fahan are four forts containing ten clochauns, a group of seven clochauns, and twelve others detached. These by no means exhaust the remains of the settlement, which has been called, by way of archæological pre-eminence ‘The ancient City of Fahan.’

The fort of Dunbeg, about two miles east of Slea Head, was formed by erecting a massive stone rampart 15 to 25 feet in thickness across an angular headland. It curved slightly to the east and touched the cliff at both sides; it was no doubt originally of greater length, as the sea has, in recent times, noticeably gained upon the coast. Near the middle the wall is cut by a passage, the entrance of which is 3½ feet high, 3 feet wide at the bottom, and 2 at the top. The passage widens to about 8 feet, and becomes corbelled. The original entrance was 7 feet wide; but it was thus reduced, and a barricade about 4 feet thick added, leaving a space between it and the original wall to the right and left of the entrance for defence with a heavy timber log. The recess to the right was longer than that to the left, to receive the log when not in use. A hole in the top of the wall opened into the recess, in order to wedge the block when in position. About half way through the wall were similar recesses for a like purpose. Two guardrooms in the walls opened into the court within. These had interesting features in the shape of ‘squints’ formed in the stonework communicating with the passage. A clochaun stood inside the fort close to the cliff on the south-east. The plan of the chamber, three sides forming that of a regular figure, and the fourth curved, is said to be unique. When repaired in recent years, a subterranean passage was discovered from the entrance outwards. A series of three earthen mounds with intervening fosses formed an outward defence. A passage ran through stone gateways in each vallum, the remains of two of which exist.[84]

About half a mile to the west of Dunbeg is Cahernamactirech, the ‘Fort of the wolves.’[85] The walls vary from 11 to 18 feet in thickness, enclosing an area of about 100 feet in diameter. Three sections of the wall, occupying the greater portion of it, were pierced by narrow passages, and a number of clochauns occupied the area within. This was a most interesting fortification, and had some unusual features; but it has fallen into great dilapidation.

Du Noyer was of opinion that the Fahan settlement dated from the Firbolg occupation. O’Curry combated this in supporting the theory that it was of primitive Christian origin and a monastic establishment.[86] Mr. Stewart Macalister is of opinion that ‘the clochan period of the settlement probably extends from a little before the introduction of Christianity into Corkaguiney, down to a comparatively recent date in the Middle Ages.’[87]