forts historical ireland

A fine artillery fort, 270 feet square and with spear-shaped bastions at the corners, was built here by Colonel Arthur Hill around 1650 to command the road from Dublin to Belfast and Carrickfergus. It stands on the site of an Early Christian period rath, the circular ditch of which has been left open in the central grassed area of the fort. In the min 18th century, the Hill family transformed the north-western gatehouse entrance into a two-storey 'gothick' fort or castle for the entertainment...

The famous star shaped fort can be found 3km from Kinsale. As one of the largest military forts in the country, Charles Fort has been associated with some of the most significant events in Irish history. The most momentous of which includes the Williamite War in 1690 and the Irish Civil War of 1922-23.
The fort has two enormous bastions overlooking the estuary, and three looking inland. Within its walls were all the accommodation requirements for the garrison of the fort and their famil...

Kinsale can easily claim its place amongst Ireland's most historic locations for this has been a centre of population, commerce, trade and fishing far beyond memory and record.

In its earliest days the estuary of the Bandon River gave it great importance as the river is tidal as far as Innishannon and water transport was dominant until the 18th Century. The estuary also provided excellent anchorage for ancient shipping which went in peril of the vagaries of the weather.

The t...

Access by foot via a forestry car park signposted to the left off the N18 road between Newmarket-on-fergus and Dromoland. The famous iron age ring fort of Mooghaun, 'one of our most remarkable antiquities. It has three great stone walls of which the outermost, oval in outline, measures 450 m x 30 m' - O Riordain, 1942. It enclosed 18 hectares....

Crookedwood, almost 7 miles from Mullingar, dates back to the old legends of Fionn and the Fianna. A 14th century stone roofed church, called the Church of Taughmon can be found here and behind it lies a ring fort. If you return to the main road and take the direction of Castlepollard, you can see Lough Derravaragh, associated with the legend of "The Children of Lir" changed into swans for 900 years by their jealous stepmother, they spent 300 years of that time on this lake before being return...

Only remains of the earthen wall to suggest former fort, but a depression in the northwest portion reveals a low lintel stone over a small opening. Through the opening is an excellent example of a soutrerrain i.e. a manmade, subetrrain structure built for purposes of storage and protection in time of attack.

The Gortaboy Souterrain contains 3 spacious chambers, connected by two - traps - low crawl spaces designed to slow down anyone attempting to get inside....

This site was regarded as one of the most potentially significant sites in the entire area. A Promontory Fort is essentially a defensive structure and they have been dated to the Early Iron Age. This one consists of an extensive and very well preserved complex of earthworks with wide views of Kinvara Bay.

The tomb consists of a simple chamber, with sides and back formed of large single stones, capped with a roofstone. The smaller field stones on top are perhaps remains of the original e...

This beautiful park is wovan around the lake and islands of Lough Oughter. A number of marked trails range in length from 1.5km to 2.8km, each offering enchanted views and a diversity of habitat for the wild fauna.

Norway and Sitka spruce are the main tree species with a considerable amount of mixed woodland, including ash, oak, birch, sycamore, beech and alder. Stoat, badger, fox, grey squirrrel, hedgehog and rabbit are among the variety of fauna which can be spotted here.

The t...

Lurigethan Fort is at a height of 385 m. Probably about 3000 years ago Bronze or Iron Age men built ramparts to enclose an area of about 16 ha. These people could best be described as warlike farmers. The site would have been rather bleak for a permanent settlement and may have been a market or trading area....

Located beyond and on a lower level than the moat, this area is also known as the Croppy Boy Cell and the Hanghouse, as it is rumoured that hangings took place here. After the 1798 rebellion, prisoners were detailed in the Fort pending transfer to Geneva Barracks for trial and sentence. Restoration and refurbishment is on going....