Caherconnell Stone Fort / Dun View all content for Caherconnell

Visited 20.5.11 I wasn't expecting be able to visit Caherconnell as I didn't think we would have time but (for a change) we were ahead of schedule so we arrived an hour before the visitor centre was due to close. The site is well signposted and has a large free car park with a restaurant, toilets, shop etc – everything you could wish for! After paying to get in, I took the path from the visitor's centre up to the stone fort – only a short walk taking about 5 minutes. You first come to a building which shows a short presentation film (on a loop) to get you in the 'mood'. The fort itself isn't that big (compared with a Hillfort anyway) although the walls are well preserved, being up to 3 metres high and 2 metres thick) – more like the ruins of a medieval castle – only round! Of particular interest were the prehistoric structures discovered just outside the fort. The leaflet describes them as: 'A rectilinear timber framed structure with hearth dating to the late Neolithic/Bronze Age. The well preserved dry stone sub-circular structure is later, partly built on the site of the earlier house. This site is unique in the archaeology of Britain and Ireland'. It is this later stone structure that you can see – dug into the ground – approximately 1 metre deep and 2 metres round. It has an entrance way about 2 metres long and again 1 metre deep. The earlier wooden structure is marked out with modern wooden posts. There is a green metal 'garden shed' with a computer terminal in it that gives details of the site.

Posted by CARL 2nd June 2011ce

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