Dún Conor is a stone
ringfort
Ringforts or ring forts are small circular fortification, fortified settlements built during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and early Middle Ages up to about the year 1000 AD. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are ...
(cashel) and
national monument
A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...
located on
Inishmaan
Inishmaan ( ; , the official name, formerly spelled , meaning "middle island") is the middle of the three main Aran Islands in Galway Bay, off the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of County Galway in the province of Conn ...
,
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
.
Location
Dún Conor is located at the centre of Inishmaan, at the island's highest point.
History
The fort probably dates back to the first millennium AD.
At that time, sea levels were lower and the Aran Islands part of the mainland, and the other forts like
Dún Aengus were not on the coast. They have been heavily damaged by time and the sea, but Dún Conor's central location has protected it. The name means "Conor's Fort;" legends link it to Conor, son of Hua Mór and brother of
Aengus
In Irish mythology, Aengus or Óengus is one of the Tuatha Dé Danann and probably originally a god associated with youth, love,Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. ''Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopedia of the Irish folk tradition''. Prentice-Hall Press, ...
. The size of the forts on the Aran Islands gave rise to the legends of the
Fir Bolg
In medieval Irish myth, the Fir Bolg (also spelt Firbolg and Fir Bholg) are the fourth group of people to settle in Ireland. They are descended from the Muintir Nemid, an earlier group who abandoned Ireland and went to different parts of Europe. ...
.
John O'Donovan John O'Donovan may refer to:
*John O'Donovan (scholar) (1806–1861), Irish language scholar and place-name expert
*John O'Donovan (politician) (1908–1982), Irish TD and Senator
*John O'Donovan (police commissioner) (1858–1927), New Zealand pol ...
visited Dún Conor in 1839. The
clochán
A (plural ) or beehive hut is a dry-stone hut with a corbelled roof, commonly associated with the south-western Irish seaboard. The precise construction date of most of these structures is unknown with the buildings belonging to a long-estab ...
s in the interior were restored in the 1880s.
Description
A stone ringfort with an irregular elliptical shape, internally measuring about N-S and E-W; although smaller than
Dún Aengus, it has thicker walls, up to in places. It is built in four terraces with internal stairs. The west wall is built atop a natural internal cliff; the other sides are guarded by a second wall, with a
bastion
A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...
in the northeast.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dún Conor
Aran Islands
National monuments in County Galway
Archaeological sites in County Galway