Staigue Fort
| Staigue Fort Irish: An Stéig | |
|
County Kerry | |
|---|---|
 Staigue Fort | |
| Type: | Ring fort |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | V61056330 |
| Location: | 51°48’18"N, 10°-0’56"W |
| History | |
| Built Iron Age | |
| Information | |
Staigue or Staig is a ruined stone ringfort eleven miles west of Sneem, on the Iveragh Peninsula of County Kerry. The fort is thought to have been built during the late Iron Age, probably somewhere between 300 and 400 AD, as a defensive stronghold for a local lord or king.[1]
It is at the head of a valley opening south to the sea, surrounded by a ditch over 26 feet wide and at present 6 feet deep.[2] The fort's walls are up to 18 feet high in places, 13 feet thick at the bottom and 90 feet in diameter. The inside is reached through a 1.8m passage roofed with double lintels. Staigue represents a considerable feat in engineering and building. It was built without mortar, using undressed stones.[1] Vertical joints visible in the wall show that gaps were left during the building of the wall to allow access and were filled in later. There is also a tapered, lintelled doorway. Inside is an elaborate network of stairways leading to terraces and corbelled cells in the wall reached by passages.[2]
There is evidence that copper was excavated in the surrounding area and it appears to be a place of worship, an observatory and a place of defence.[1]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Staigue Fort) |
- Staigue Fort: the best ringfort on the Ring of Kerry? - YouTube: Foras Feasa: Exploring Irish History