Loher Cashel is a stone

ringfort Ringforts, ring forts or ring fortresses are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Bronze Age up to about the year 1000. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are also many in South Wales ...

(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 spec ...

located on the

Iveragh Peninsula The Iveragh Peninsula () is located in County Kerry in Ireland. It is the largest peninsula in southwestern Ireland. A mountain range, the MacGillycuddy's Reeks, lies in the centre of the peninsula. Carrauntoohil, its highest mountain, is als ...

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 ...

Location

Loher Cashel is situated on the western edge of the

overlooking Ballinskelligs Bay, northwest of

Derrynane Derrynane, officially Darrynane (), is a small village in the civil parish of Kilcrohane in County Kerry, Ireland. It is located on the Iveragh peninsula, just off the N70 national primary road near Caherdaniel on the shores of Derrynane Bay. ...

. This location may have been chosen for its view of

Skellig Michael Skellig Michael ( ga, Sceilg Mhichíl ), also called Great Skellig ( ga, link=no, Sceilig Mhór ), is a twin-pinnacled crag west of the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. The island is named after the archangel Michael, with "Skellig ...

History

The cashel was built around the 9th century AD as a defended farmstead. It was recently reconstructed.

Description

This is a circular stone ringfort (''caiseal'') of internal diameter with outer walls over high and thick accessible by stairways. It is built of

drystone Dry stone, sometimes called drystack or, in Scotland, drystane, is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. Dry stone structures are stable because of their construction me ...

with gaps filled in with rubble. In the interior are a large round house and a smaller rectangular house; archaeology has shown that these were preceded by wooden buildings. A

souterrain ''Souterrain'' (from French ''sous terrain'', meaning "under ground") is a name given by archaeologists to a type of underground structure associated mainly with the European Atlantic Iron Age. These structures appear to have been brought northw ...

was located in the circular house. The entrance has a stone-lined passage similar to that at Staigue stone fort.

References

{{Reflist National Monuments in County Kerry Archaeological sites in County Kerry