The name might give the impression that this is a pile of
feathers, but it is in fact an ancient hill-fort near the town of Downpatrick
in Northern Ireland.
It is a large earthwork comprising a bank and ditch that
encircle a natural drumlin, this being a smooth-sided hill – formed from
glacial outflow material – that resembles half an egg in shape. The area has
many drumlins in it, but the Mound rises higher than the rest – up to 12 metres
above the surrounding countryside. This was once a boggy area known as the
Quoile Marshes, so the Mound would have offered a perfect defensive position.
The Mound covers about three acres, which is large in terms
of Iron Age sites, and there is a smaller earthwork within the main surrounding
bank.
Another name for the Mound is Dundalethglas, which translates
as “the English mount”. This could refer to the use of the site by Sir John de
Courcy, an Anglo-Norman knight who invaded Ulster on behalf of King Henry II in
the 1170s.
However, after Sir John’s time the Mound became overgrown
and disappeared from view beneath brambles, gorse and larger trees. It was therefore
unknown for centuries and has only been restored to view relatively recently.
Archaeologists and historians are now thinking that the
Mound of Down might have had an even more important role in the past than that
accorded to it by Sir John de Courcy. It may have been a royal stronghold for
the Kings of Ulster who ruled this region in the early medieval period.
© John Welford
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