Boirane, Ballelby Promontory Fort
A fort surrounded by ditch and circular bank shows also the ruin of a long house similar to that at Poyll Vaish, which proved to be pre-Viking. In the north, west and southwest, steep natural slopes fall to the sea and a steep-sided river course.
There are no natural defences on the east side where fragmentary portions of an artificial ditch is all that remains of the outer defences. The remainder of this ditch has been incorporated in and destroyed by a modern boundary wall. The ditch is 4.0 m wide and 0.5 m deep. Around the east periphery of the interior of the fort, which is raised a minimum of 2.0 m above the surrounding ground, is a bank 2.0 m wide with an inner height of 0.3 m. A crescentic bank 3.0 m wide with an average height of 0.5 m, forms an enclosure with the steep hill side which is comparable to similar enclosures at the side of the Knoc y Trodden vitrified fort. It is grass covered with no visible trace of interior constructions.
The entrance was probably created by a weak bank extending north from the crescentic enclosure bank and the slight overlapping created by the outward swing of the bank around the upper periphery of the fort. In respect of the enclosure bank, this promontory fort is unique among several otherwise similar forts on the island.
Connections
Book Chapters
- Parish: Patrick
- Sheading: Glenfaba
- Grid Ref: SC2153078920
Sources
- Isle of Man Heritage Environment Record