Cahirg1

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The Exterior

Cathair Geal ,( the Bright or Light fort / town ), stone fort is situated near the town of Caherciveen on the Ring of Kerry. It was built, ( as many of these stone FORTS were), on a hill, overlooking Valencia harbour. Leacánabhuaile Stone Fort, is no more than a " STONES THROW " away, and again built on a hill, with a COMMANDING view of the surrounding countryside . As in the case of STAIGUE FORT, near SNEEM, they are usually sited on a hill, in a valley, allowing the OCCUPANTS an uninterrupted view of the surrounding countryside. This was important to the BUILDER'S, as each site was assured PROTECTION, and at the same time, made it very easy to DEFEND and COMMANDED respect. From a distance, these FORTS may not look very much, but the closer you get to them, the more IMPRESSIVE they begin to appear. This of course would have been the main IDEA, as an attacker would have to be extremely determined to attack these FORTRESSES. These walls were built of DRY STONE, i.e. did not have any MORTAR / CEMENT, and have a smooth surface on their outer faces. This, combined with a slight inward slope, from ground level, to the top, meant that the OCCUPANTS could easily see any ATTACKER, allowing them FULL advantage over same. The stone used in the CONSTRUCTION was found locally, and consists mainly of SLATE ( as in VALENCIA island where Dinosaur tracks can still be seen ). These walls were built in the CAVITY style, i.e. there are TWO walls TIED by means of large stones, laid at intervals, at 90 ° to the normal COURSES, ( running BOND ) . As the walls rise, the CAVITY between the two outer walls were filled in / IN FILLED with CLINKER, making them both stable, and immensely strong. As you can see, any outcrop of rock was incorporated into the FOUNDATION of the FORT. As at DÚN BEAG, each stone was fitted into place with as little shaping or cutting as possible, being held in place by gravity / weight, and the INCLINE. In the distance there is a NORMAN STYLE Castle, situated nearer the coastline, indicating that this site was of extreme importance to the inhabitants of the CAHERCIVEEN area for MILLENNIA. This spot has a COMMANDING view of the BAY area, (including VALENCIA Island), so the builders of these FORTIFICATIONS, COMMANDED all trade and travel for MANY miles around.

The Entrance to the INTERIOR of the FORT is a FORMIDABLE door way, wide enough to allow a horse and CHARIOT through, but for the added defensive walls built within the DOOR way / ENTRANCE itself. This door way has the added PROTECTION of a WALK WAY on part of the OUTER SILL STONE, ( overhanging the interior of door way ), which allows it to be PROTECTED from ABOVE. The walls at this point are 25 -30ft. / 9-10 Mets. in thickness .These SILL stones were WORKED / SHAPED to achieve their uniformity. They are about 7ft. / 2mts. X 10 -12ft. /10 / 11mts. and required SKILL to fit into place.