Caherconree
The Promontory Fort Caherconree ( Irish Cathair Conraoi , Old Irish Cathair Con Roí ) lies at an altitude of 625 m above the Finglas Valley on the Dingle Peninsula and is Ireland's second highest inland Promontory Fort. It is one of the most important mythical places in County Kerry , named after Cú Roí mac Dairi (also Cú Ruí, in modern Irish Cú Raoi), a legendary Irish hero. Caher is the Anglicized form of the Irish word cathair (which in some regions of the island means Duns or Steinfort).
Caherconree lies at the point where the Sliabh Mis (a mountain range) marks a natural threshold between the peninsula and the mainland. Here is a spur protruding to the west. A 110 m long wall forms a triangular enclosure about two acres in size next to the steep cliff. Before the restoration, the dry stone wall was up to a height of around three meters in places. It is massive and has three broad, terrace-like wall steps on the inside.
Legend
Caherconree is Cú Roí's residence in the Slieve Mish Mountains ( Sliabh Mis ). Loegaire Buadach , Conall Cernach and Cú Chulainn are sent here to let him decide who is Ireland's greatest hero. Everyone has to guard his city at night while he tests it in the form of a grayish otherworld creature. Caherconree turned incessantly every night so that the entrance could not be found. There is a strong cultic element to this fortress, and it is not impossible that it was built for the sun god. According to Echtra Airt Maic Cuinn , Caherconree is also home to the magic wand with which “Conn of a thousand battles” made himself “Lord of the World”.
literature
- Judith Cuppage: Archaeological Survey of the Dingle Peninsula . A description of the field antiquities of the Barony of Corca Dhuibhne from the Mesolithic period to the 17th century AD = Suirbhé Seandálaíochta Chorca Dhuibhne. 1986
- Steve MacDonogh: The Dingle Peninsula. History, Folklore and Archeology . Brandon, 1993 ISBN 0-86322-159-9
- Sylvia Botheroyd : Ireland - Mythology in the landscape: a travel and reading book . Häusser-Verlag, Darmstadt 1997, ISBN 3-89552-034-9 .
- Peter Harbison : Guide to the Naional Monuments in the Republic of Ireland Gill and Macmillan, Dublin 1992 ISBN 0-7171-1956-4 p. 111
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 11 ′ 50 ″ N , 9 ° 51 ′ 46 ″ W.