Loher Cashel

Loher Cashel is a stone ringfort (cashel) and National Monument located on the Iveragh Peninsula, Ireland.[3][4][5]

Loher Cashel
Native name
Irish: Cathair an Lóthair
Typestone ringfort
LocationLoher, Derrynane,
County Kerry, Ireland
Coordinates51.786111°N 10.165556°W / 51.786111; -10.165556
Elevation60 m (200 ft)
Height3 m (9.8 ft)
Builtc. 9th century AD
Architectural style(s)Gaelic Ireland
OwnerState[1]
Official nameLoher Cashel[2]
Reference no.611
Location of Loher Cashel in Ireland

Location
The entrance way. Note the dry stone slabs that form the walls.

Loher Cashel is situated on the western edge of the Iveragh Peninsula overlooking Ballinskelligs Bay, 3.9 km (2.4 mi) northwest of Derrynane.[6][7] This location may have been chosen for its view of Skellig Michael.[8]

History

The cashel was built around the 9th century AD as a defended farmstead. It was recently reconstructed.[9][4]

Description
Aerial view of the cashel and surrounding countryside.

This is a circular stone ringfort (caiseal) of internal diameter 20 m (66 ft) with outer walls over 2 m (6 ft 7 in) high and 3 m (9.8 ft) thick accessible by stairways. It is built of drystone with gaps filled in with rubble.

In the interior are a large round house and a smaller rectangular house; archaeology has shown that these were preceded by wooden buildings. A souterrain was located in the circular house.[10]

The entrance has a stone-lined passage similar to that at Staigue stone fort.[11][12]

References
  1. http://cdp.kerrycoco.ie/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/1_national_monuments.pdf
  2. https://www.archaeology.ie/sites/default/files/media/pdf/monuments-in-state-care-kerry.pdf
  3. "megalithomania: Loher (Kerry) :: Stone Fort :: Visit notes". www.megalithomania.com.
  4. Moody, Theodore William; Martin, Francis X.; Byrne, Francis John; Cosgrove, Art (27 August 1976). A New History of Ireland: Prehistoric and early Ireland. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198217374 – via Google Books.
  5. Meeting, European Association of Archaeologists; Henderson, Jon C. (1 January 2000). The Prehistory and Early History of Atlantic Europe: Papers from a Session Held at the European Association of Archaeologists Fourth Annual Meeting in Göteborg 1998. Archaeopress. ISBN 9781841710624 – via Google Books.
  6. Henderson, Jon (1 December 2007). The Atlantic Iron Age: Settlement and Identity in the First Millennium BC. Routledge. ISBN 9781134076130 – via Google Books.
  7. Weir, Anthony. "County Kerry - selected monuments". www.irishmegaliths.org.uk.
  8. Harbison, Peter (1 April 1995). Pilgrimage in Ireland: The Monuments and the People. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815603122 – via Google Books.
  9. "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Celtic studies, history, linguistics and literature". The Academy. 27 August 1995 – via Google Books.
  10. http://www.megalithicireland.com/Loher%20Stone%20Fort.html
  11. "Loher Fort". irishantiquities.bravehost.com.
  12. "Loher Fort, County Kerry". timetravelireland.blogspot.ie.
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