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The fort is of dry stone and the
walls are about 13ft. thick and 17ft. high. The inside diameter
is over 76ft. The earthen enclosures date from the iron age when
it was used as a temple of the sun. The stone fort is much later
and dates from historical times.
The geographer, Ptolemy of
Alexandria, noted its position in the 2nd century A.D. It was
the royal residence of the O'Neills, Kings of Aileach, for
centuries. The Annals record its destruction in 674 at the hands
of the Son of the King of Ireland. In 1101 again Murtagh
O'Brien, King of Munster whose own royal seat at Kincora had
been laid waste, destroyed the site and ordered his soldiers to
take away a stone for every sack of provisions they carried. The
present fort was restored in the 1870s by Dr. Walter Bernard of
Derry.
Burt Church was inspired by the design of the Grianan of Aileach.
In the distance can be seen the
ruins of the 16th century Burt Castle which is bounded on three
sides by Lough Swilly and enjoys a magnificent view of the
surround countryside |
