A dun is an ancient or medieval fort. In Ireland and Britain it is mainly a kind of hillfort and also a kind of

Atlantic roundhouse In archaeology, an Atlantic roundhouse is an Iron Age stone building found in the northern and western parts of mainland Scotland, the Northern Isles and the Hebrides. Circular houses were the predominant architectural style of the British landsc ...

Etymology

The term comes from Irish ''dún'' or

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

''dùn'' (meaning "fort"), and is

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...

with

Old Welsh Old Welsh ( cy, Hen Gymraeg) is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh.Koch, p. 1757. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic ...

''din'' (whence

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

''dinas'' "city" comes). In certain instances, place-names containing ''Dun-'' or similar in

Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

and Southern

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, may be derived from a Brittonic cognate of the Welsh form ''din''. In this region, substitution of the Brittonic form by the Gaelic equivalent may have been widespread in toponyms. The Dacian dava (hill fort) is probably etymologically cognate.

Details

In some areas duns were built on any suitable

crag Crag may refer to: * Crag (climbing), a cliff or group of cliffs, in any location, which is or may be suitable for climbing * Crag (dice game), a dice game played with three dice * Crag, Arizona, US * Crag, West Virginia, US * Crag and tail, a g ...

or hillock, particularly south of the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...

and the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

. There are many duns on the west coast of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and they feature in

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later written down in the early medieval era by C ...

. For example, the tale of the '' Táin Bó Flidhais'' features Dún Chiortáin and Dún Chaocháin. Duns seem to have arrived with the

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

in about the 7th century BC. Early duns had near vertical ramparts made of stone and timber. There were two walls, an inner wall and the outside one.

Vitrified fort Vitrified forts are stone enclosures whose walls have been subjected to vitrification through heat. It was long thought that these structures were unique to Scotland, but they have since been identified in several other parts of western and norther ...

s are the remains of duns that have been set on fire and where stones have been partly melted. Use of duns continued in some parts into the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. Duns are similar to

broch A broch is an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure found in Scotland. Brochs belong to the classification "complex Atlantic roundhouse" devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s. Their origin is a matter of some controversy. Origin ...

s, but are smaller and probably would not have been capable of supporting a very tall structure. Good examples of this kind of dun can be found in the

Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coast ...

, on artificial islands in small lakes.

Toponymy

The word ''dun'' is, along with like-sounding cognate forms, an element frequently found in Celtic toponymy; especially that of Ireland and Scotland. It can include fortifications of all sizes and kinds:

Ireland

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

Doneraile Doneraile (), historically Dunerayl, is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It is on the R581 regional road east of the N20 road, which runs from Limerick to Cork. It is about north of Mallow town. It is on the River Awbeg, a branch of the ...

* Down * Dún Laoghaire * Dún an Ri (Kingscourt), County Cavan *

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

* Dundonald *

Dundrum, County Down Dundrum () is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is beside Dundrum Bay, about 4 miles outside Newcastle, County Down, Newcastle on the A2 road. The village is best known for its ruined Norman architecture, Norman Dundru ...

Dundrum, Dublin Dundrum (, ''the ridge fort''), originally a town in its own right, is an outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The area is located in the Dublin postal districts, postal districts of Dublin 14 and Dublin 16. Dundrum is home to the Dundrum Town Centr ...

Dungannon Dungannon () is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 14,340 at the 2011 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council had its headquarters in the ...

Dungarvan Dungarvan () is a coastal town and harbour in County Waterford, on the south-east coast of Ireland. Prior to the merger of Waterford County Council with Waterford City Council in 2014, Dungarvan was the county town and administrative centre of ...

Dunmurry Dunmurry (; ) is an urban townland in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Dunmurry is in the Collin electoral ward for the local government district of Belfast City Council. History Until the end of the 18th century, Dunmurry was largely an agricultura ...

* Portadown

Scotland

Many settlement and geographical names in Scotland are named with Gaelic ''dun'' ("fort"), as well as cognates in Brittonic languages such as

Cumbric Cumbric was a variety of the Common Brittonic language spoken during the Early Middle Ages in the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North" in what is now the counties of Westmorland, Cumberland and northern Lancashire in Northern England and the souther ...

and Pictish. * Drumpellier,

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...

* Dumbarton, Dunbartonshire *

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

, Dumfriesshire – possibly Brittonic ''din-pres'' ("thicket fort"). *

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

Angus Angus may refer to: Media * ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film * ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record'' Places Australia * Angus, New South Wales Canada * Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario * East Angus, Quebec Scotland * An ...

Dunearn Dunearn is a hill fort located south south east of Nairn in Highland, Scotland. It is situated on a steep-sided hill called Doune rising to approximately above ordnance datum just south of Dulsie Bridge (which provides a modern crossing of the ...

, Nairnshire * Dunearn,

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

– possibly dùn-Èirinn ("fort of Ireland"). *

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

, Fife * Duniface, Fife – possibly Pictish equivalent of Welsh ''din-y-faes'' ("fort of the field"). * Dunimarle, Fife * Dunino, Fife *

Dunipace Dunipace is a village in the west of the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The village is south of Stirling and north-west of Falkirk. The village is situated on the north bank of the River Carron and adjoins the town of Denny, to the south of ...

, Stirlingshire - Brittonic equivalent of Welsh ''din-y-bas'' ("fort of the shallow"). * Dunlop,

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

Duns Duns may refer to: * Duns, Scottish Borders, a town in Berwickshire, Scotland ** Duns railway station ** Duns F.C., a football club ** Duns RFC, a rugby football club ** Battle of Duns, an engagement fought in 1372 * Duns Scotus ( 1265/66–1308) ...

Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of th ...

* Duntarvie,

West Lothian West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its shires of Scotland, historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geogra ...

* Tantallon,

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, - Name in

is ''Dun Eideann''.

England

Some place-names in England are derived from Brittonic cognates of Welsh ''din'' (c.f. Cornish ''dyn'', Cumbric ''*din''), and fewer perhaps from the Gaelic form. Roman-era toponyms ending in ''-dunum'' may represent an ancient Brittonic ''*duno''. * Cambodunum,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

* Din Guoaroy,

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

– obsolete name for

Bamburgh Bamburgh ( ) is a village and civil parish on the coast of Northumberland, England. It had a population of 454 in 2001, decreasing to 414 at the 2011 census. The village is notable for the nearby Bamburgh Castle, a castle which was the seat of ...

. Equivalent to Welsh ''din-gwarae'' ("fort of the play"). * Dinckley,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

Dunmallard Hill Dunmallet or Dunmallard Hill is a small hill in the English Lake District, near Pooley Bridge, Cumbria. It is the subject of a chapter of Wainwright's book ''The Outlying Fells of Lakeland''. It reaches and Wainwright describes the ascent, from ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

* Durham,

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

- ''Dunelm'' * Glendinning Rigg, Cumberland * Londesborough, Yorkshire – ''Lugudunum'', from ''*lọ:co-'' + ''duno'' ("shining fort"). * Rigodunum, Lancashire * Segedunum, Northumberland *

Tintagel Tintagel () or Trevena ( kw, Tre war Venydh, meaning ''Village on a Mountain'') is a civil parish and village situated on the Atlantic coast of Cornwall, England. The village and nearby Tintagel Castle are associated with the legends surroundin ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

Uxelodunum Uxelodunum (with the alternative Roman name of Petriana and the modern name of Stanwix Fort) was a Roman fort. It was the largest fort on Hadrian's Wall, and is now buried beneath the suburb of Stanwix, in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. Roman ...

, Cumberland – c.f. Welsh ''ucheldin'' ("high fort").

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

has been etymologised as Brittonic ''*lin-'' + ''dun-'' ("lake fort"). Coates has rejected such an etymology as "incompatible with early forms".

Wales

* Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire – ''Moridunum'' ("sea fort"). *

Denbigh Denbigh (; cy, Dinbych; ) is a market town and a community in Denbighshire, Wales. Formerly, the county town, the Welsh name translates to "Little Fortress"; a reference to its historic castle. Denbigh lies near the Clwydian Hills. History ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

– from ''dinbych'' ("small fort") * Tintern,

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

Italy

* Duno *

Induno Olona Induno Olona is a town and ''comune'' in Italy, in north-western Lombardy, north of Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after R ...

Verduno Verduno is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about northeast of Cuneo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 523 and an area of .All demographics an ...

France and Switzerland

The Proto-Celtic form is ''*Dūno-'', yielding Greek δοῦνον. It is ultimately cognate to English ''

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

''. The Gaulish term survives in many toponyms in France and Switzerland: * Autun - ''Augustodūnon'' fort of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

– ''Lugudūnon'' " Lugus' fort" *

Nevers Nevers ( , ; la, Noviodunum, later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is the prefecture of the Nièvre Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in central France. It was the principal city of the ...

– ''Nouiodūnon'' "new fort" *

Olten Olten (High Alemannic: ''Oute'') is a town in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland and capital of the district of the same name. Olten's railway station is within 30 minutes of Zürich, Basel, Bern, and Lucerne by train, and is a rail hub o ...

– ''Ol(l)odūnonm'' "fort on the Olon river" *

Thun , neighboring_municipalities= Amsoldingen, Heiligenschwendi, Heimberg, Hilterfingen, Homberg, Schwendibach, Spiez, Steffisburg, Thierachern, Uetendorf, Zwieselberg , twintown = , website = www.thun.ch Thun (french: Thoune) ...

– ''Dūnon'' *

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

– ''Uerodūnon'' "strong fort" *

Yverdon-les-Bains Yverdon-les-Bains () (called Eburodunum and Ebredunum during the Roman era) is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord vaudois of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is the seat of the district. The population of Yverdon-les-Bains, , was ...

– ''Eburodūnon'' "

yew Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew (''Taxus br ...

fort"

Germany

* Kempten,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

– ''Cambodunum''

Bulgaria and Serbia

Dunonia Vidin ( bg, Видин, ; Old Romanian: Diiu) is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as ...

* Singidunum

Elsewhere in the world

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand – from ''Dùn Èideann'', the Gaelic name for Edinburgh.Dunedin: Edinburgh of the south
, ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'', 18 April 2012 *

Dunedin, Florida Dunedin is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The name comes from ''Dùn Èideann'', the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Dunedin is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area and is ...

, USA – see Dunedin, New Zealand.

References

* Scotland Before History - Stuart Piggott, Edinburgh University Press 1982, * Scotland's Hidden History - Ian Armit, Tempus (in association with Historic Scotland) 1998, {{Fortifications Fortifications in the United Kingdom Geography of Scotland Place name element etymologies Archaeology of Scotland Toponymy Fortifications by type Fortifications in Ireland