News Letter
Other Videos
Ferriters Castle & Promontory Fort Excavation
News Letter
Introduction
The CHERISH team plan to carry out archaeological excavations at Ferriter’s Castle and Promontory Fort once current restrictions allow. The site is located on the Ballyferriter Headland, Dingle peninsula in Co. Kerry. Doon Point (Dún an Fheirtéaraigh) is a long, narrow promontory extending slightly over five hundred metres from north east to south west. Beautiful views from this site include Sybil head to the north and the Blasket Islands to the west. This prehistoric fort is one of 95 coastal promontory forts in County Kerry, and one of 508 such forts recorded around the Irish coastline. Promontory forts are being heavily impacted by erosion and therefore the CHERISH project are undertaking excavation on this fascinating site in order to learn more about this Irish archaeological site type. Ferriter’s Promontory Fort sits directly to the north of the Mesolithic- Neolithic transition period site at Ferriter’s Cove, which was excavated in the 1980s. Excavation holds the potential to reveal the very exciting use of this headland over thousands of years. The excavations will build on from our initial investigations at Ferriter’s Promontory Fort which included walk-over survey, detailed terrain modelling through drone mapping, and geophysical survey using both magnetic gradiometry and resistivity surveys. The results of these surveys have guided our plans for excavation, identifying anomalies in both the surface topography and sub-surface make-up that have the potential to be man-made.
Site Defences
The two sets of defences on this promontory fort are located where two natural coves occur dividing the promontory into two distinct sections. These two necks of land were utilised and enhanced by the builders of this fort with a series of banks and ditches, to form an outer and inner set of defences. The team will look at these defences during excavation to understand how and when they were constructed, as well as hoping to learn something about the people who built them and lived in this fort. The team will record and sample the construction materials of the banks and ditches to identify the different phases of construction, as well as the methods and materials used in their construction. We hope to use scientific dating methods to date some of the occupation and/ or construction phases.
Hut Sites
In the fifteenth or sixteenth century, reuse of the fort occurred when the Anglo-Norman Ferriter family constructed a castle on the inner bank of the outer defences. This tower house was originally a 4-5 storey rectangular tower, occupied by the Ferriter family until the seventeenth century. Ferriter’s Castle is built on the inner bank of the outer defences of the fort. The castle has been recorded in high resolution by a 3D laser scan survey. This provides an exact record of the castle at the time of survey, and allows the team to monitor any changes that occur to the castle. Excavations in this part of the fort will focus on the rectangular house sites, thought to be associated with the later medieval activity on the site. A trench will be excavated to expose the old floor level at the time of occupation and to see what type of construction was used to build them. This may allow us to determine how these structures relate to the tower house and its occupants. A well is recorded in this section of the site, a core will be taken to determine if it is, in fact, a well and to gather material for palaeo-environmental investigations.
In the second section of the fort, there are numerous hut sites and sub-circular depressions. These archaeological features are being heavily impacted by erosion due to their cliff side location and it is therefore, very important that the team garner as much information and knowledge as possible about this site type before they are eaten away by the sea. The team will excavate in full one of the larger hut sites, the example selected is not located along the cliff edge to provide a safe working environment for the team. These investigations will allow us to understand the nature of construction of these structures as well as when and why these hut sites were built. The sub-circular depressions in this area are unusual features, and the excavation trenches in these features will allow us to determine if they man-made or geological. If they are man-made features we will record and sample them to answer the same questions we have asked of the other archaeological features within this fort. During the excavation we may uncover artefacts that have been buried for hundreds or in some cases thousands of years. If we are lucky enough to uncover artefacts they could shed light on the different periods of usage of this site, and perhaps give us an insight into the type of people who lived at this beautiful, but exposed location.
The CHERISH team are very grateful to Dennis Curran for granting us permission to work on his land, his friendliness and generosity during survey work, and for the wealth of local knowledge he has shared with the team.
Location Map
Coastal Zone Assessment
News Letter
Coastal Zone Assessment
The coastlines of Wales and Ireland form an extensive stretch of landscape, and coastal zone assessments provide a rapid, though detailed, method of gathering information on the historic environment, on the geology and geomorphology of the coast and on erosion at a given point in time.
Methodology
Since the 1990s Coastal Zone Assessments have been undertaken in Wales, Scotland and England which follow a broadly similar methodology of:
- Desk Based Assessment – To identify the archaeological resource, utilising historic environment records, mapping, aerial photography and other datasets such as LiDAR.
- Field Survey – Where a team of archaeologists and in some cases geologists walk the coast recording its geology and geomorphology and assess its erosion status; and locate, verify, identify and record archaeological features and their erosion status. This is a rapid survey using maps, a recording form and photography to provide a visual record and basic level of survey.
- Reporting – The production of a report outlining the survey area, methodology, results and recommendations with accompanying maps and gazetteer’s. Data relating to archaeological sites and monuments is also often incorporated into the relevant Historic Environment Records.
Examples of Coastal Zone Assessments
Information gathered through coastal zone assessments provide an incredibly valuable baseline dataset on the stability of the coast, the nature and extent of archaeology in the coastal zone, the threats and rates of erosion to that archaeology along with recommendations for the appropriate management of it. One outcome of these assessments has been initiatives such as Arfordir in Wales, SCHARP (Scotland’s Coastal heritage at Risk Project) in Scotland and CITiZAN (the Coastal and Intertidal Zone Archaeological Network) in England which work with individuals and communities to provide additional data and longer term monitoring of the archaeology in the coastal zone. SCHARP and CITiZAN use an App which allows volunteers to gather and submit information, and a similar App is being developed by CHERISH for Ireland and Wales.
CHERISH is undertaking coastal zone assessments in many of our study areas. For Ireland and the islands of Wales this will provide a baseline dataset, whereas for study areas in mainland Wales it will provide a new epoch of comparative data to that recorded by the Welsh Archaeological Trusts in the coastal zone assessments of 1993 to 1998.
Activities in Ireland
In Ireland, we have been undertaking Coastal Zone Assessment through the analysis of Project UAV data combined with walk-over survey. This approach had allowed the team to familiarise themselves with the survey area, access areas inaccessible by foot and highlight areas of interest. Two coastal areas along Ireland’s east coast and four Islands, have been the subject of Coastal Zone Assessment.
Activities in Wales
In Wales, we’ve used CHERISH Lidar gathered on 6 islands –Skerries, Puffin, Bardsey, Tudwals and Grassholm as our principal baseline dataset, creating new archaeological maps that are then verified on the ground. During island visits we’re also walking the coastline to record geology and geomorphology, and assess erosion status.
Related Content
Other Activities
Ferriters Castle and Promontory Fort, Kerry
News Letter
Location Map
Introduction
The CHERISH site Ferriter’s Castle and Promontory Fort is located on the Ballyferriter Headland, Dingle peninsula in county Kerry. Doon Point (Dún an Fheirtéaraigh) is a long, narrow promontory extending slightly over five hundred metres from north east to south west. This prehistoric fort is one of 95 coastal promontory forts in County Kerry, 42 of which are located on the Dingle peninsula.
Setting
This headland sits directly to the north of the Mesolithic- Neolithic transition period site at Ferriter’s Cove. Along the length of the promontory, narrow inlets of the sea are present in two locations due to softer sediments being carved out from the harder lava beds in these areas. These inlets divide the promontory into two distinct areas. These necks have been anthropogenically utilised and adapted in the construction of the Promontory Fort with a series of banks and ditches, forming an outer and inner set of defences. There are a number of hut sites and archaeological features visible within the boundaries of the fort. In the western section of the fort, there are a number of hut sites being heavily impacted by erosion. In the 15th or 16th century, later reuse of the fort occurred when the Anglo-Norman Ferriter family constructed a castle on the inner bank of the outer defences. This tower house was originally a 4-5 story rectangular tower, occupied by the Ferriter Family until the 17th century.
Impacts on County Dublin Coast
News Letter
Other Videos
EN 
CY