forts historical ireland

Ned's Point Fort built in 1812 and remodelled in 1896 is one of the forts built by the British in the last century to defend the area from inavasion. These forts were described by Churchill as 'the sentinel towns of the western approaches'. Almost completely destroyed it was purchased by the local council and has been restored to its former condition....

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....

An earthen ringfort with concentric bank and ditch, with the remains of a monumental flat-headed stone doorway of A.D. C. 1000 on the eastern side....

A focal point of the northern midlands where the provinces of Leinster, Ulster and Connaught all converge, Longford, where history and literature, tragedy and triumph are all woven together, takes its name from the ancient stronghold of the O'Farrell family (Long Fort - Fort of the O'Farrells).

Bordered to the West by the majestic River Shannon, Longford is a county of rolling plains and picturesque stretches of water. The highest pint of the county, Cairn Hill, is only 279 m high, bu...

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...

Dunree Fort, now a military museum. Established to the end of the eighteenth century during the Napoleonic wars and maintained as a fort until about a decade ago....

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....

On top of the hill there is a double ring of stones which once retained a mound of stones. At the most northerly point of the ring there is a Passage-tomb with short passage, and a stone basin bearing faint decoration. Towards the south-south-west of the ring there is another Passage-tomb, this time with five recesses off a central chamber, and two stones decorated with spirals. The third and earliest grave is in the north-western portion of the ring, overlain by the stones of the inner ring....

Probably an Iron Age sanctuary originally, this was later to become the inauguration place of the O'Neill chieftains of Tyrone. Here at the clan seat of O'Hagan, hereditary stewards to the O'Neills, the ceremony was conducted in the presence of the assembled under-chiefs, with the recipient installed in an ancient stone chair said to have been blessed by St. Patrick. The Great Hugh O'Neill was himself thus enthroned at Tullaghoge in 1593. That the inauguration chair, a rough construction of s...

To the south of Lough Gill and 2km north of Ballintogher is this large oval enclosure which probably protected the house of a minor chieftain....