Knockdrum Stone Fort

Knockdrum Stone Fort lies on a hill, west of the village of Castletownshend, in County Cork in Ireland.

Knockdrum Stone Fort is a ringfort, which was probably built in the early part of the first millennium AD. It is not known who built it but it is thought to have been a fortified farmstead.

The fort consists of a circular stone wall with only one entrance facing northeast. Inside the courtyard are the foundations of a square building with an entrance to a souterrain in one corner, a type of structure characteristic of the European Iron Age, but often of later date in Ireland. There is also a small room in the wall on the right side of the entrance.

There are also two large stone slabs next to the entrance, on the inside and the outside. These slabs contain cup marks which makes them date back to anywhere between 3,000 to 5,000 years ago.

The fort was restored before 1860 and excavated in 1930.

Knockdrum Stone Fort is a nice small ringfort. The views from the fort alone make a visit worthwhile. It is freely accessible. To reach it you will have to make a 10-minute walk over a path and up a stone stairway.

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