forts historical ireland

It has long been identified - though without any certainty - as the seat of Brian Boru, High King of Ireland from 1002 until his death at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. Coins found in an excavation of the site certainly showed that a house had been occupied inside during the 11th century, and the Annals of the Four Masters tell us that it was raided and demolished in 1116.
The site proved to have been inhabited at two separate periods, and the house belonged to the first period of...

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 first fort was built here in the reign of Elizabeth I. Other Churches in this area include the South Chapel a Georgian Church of 1766 and St. Nicholas Protestant Church.

The Red Abbey on Mary St. of Douglas St is the sole survivor of the monasteries of medieval Cork. An augustinian Priory, it was founded in the 14th century....

This magnificent caher or stone fort, is the most impressive and awe-inspiring of all the Aran Forts. Its three outer walls, with the exception of the remnants of the inner curtain, have disappeared but the massive fortress wall itself, built of stones, is almost intact.

Standing with its northern part on a cliff over a small valley, it measures 70m from north to south and 35m from east to west....

Clogher controlled the only major route between eastern and western Ulster, and its pivotal position in the Clogher valley led some 2,000 years ago to the creation there of a hill-fort on a small hillock close to the modern Bishop's Palace. Excavations proved its significance when imports of pottery and metal work from southern England of c.100 B.C. -A.D. 100 were discovered on the site, demonstrating its extensive trade contacts. In the early years of Christianity in Ireland, Clogher had beco...

Also known as fort Meagher, this was the last occupied fort during World war in Ireland, and is now partially used by the Irish Navy.

The Structure that is now evident replaces many other structures dating to 1550, growing in size with each new invasion.
It is currently under development as a museum....

The length of trail is 8km (5 miles). The actual walking will take you 2 - 2.5 hours, but there is a lot to see on the Trail, so you should allow 4 - 5 hours if you are to enjoy it fully.

The route is marked by yellow arrows on limestone plaques, with an occasional - walking man - symbol. There are stiles wherever you need to cross a wall....

Some 2 km further on, this time on the left hand side, but at some distance from the road, are the remains of Beal Boru, or Brian Boru's fort. Little more than the site has survived, marked by traces of earthen ramparts and a surrounding ditch. The ring fort is located on a spur of land at the point where the lake narrows before passing through Killaloe and the fort had a certain strategic value commanding the northern approached to the royal palace of Kincora. The fort is of considerable ant...

Equivalent to the crowning of a monarch, the inauguration gave the individual the right to bear the title 'the O'Neill', the head of the family that had ruled for centuries over Tyrone - an area larger than that covered by the modern county of the same name. The inauguration ceremony was conducted by the throwing of a shoe over the head of the new O'Neill, to indicate that he would follow in the footsteps of his distinguished ancestors who had borne the title. In the last years of her life, Qu...

Although ring-forts of earth and stone had their origins in pre-history, possibly in the Bronze Age, this type of enclosed settlement continued in use for a very long time and became very numerous in the early Christian period. Some, indeed, were rebuilt or extended in the Middle Ages as defensible homesteads even though by that time mortared castles and tower-houses dominated the countryside. Cahermacnaghten, 4 miles east-north-east of the spa resort of Lisdoonvarna, was occupied as late...