This rugged landscape, measuring roughly 700 metres north to south and varying between 50 and 220 metres east to west, represents the highest point of the island, with cliffs rising dramatically from the ocean. The area contains an extraordinary collection of defensive structures, hut circles, and earthworks that tell the story of centuries of human occupation on this remote Atlantic outpost.

The southern section of the peninsula is accessed via a narrow isthmus, just 40 metres wide, which forms a natural defensive ditch. Here, the grass-covered remains of a stone wall stretch for about 40 metres, with granite blocks still visible in places. Historical records from the Civil Survey of 1654-56 mention a ‘Little Castle’ in this vicinity, and the Ordnance Survey maps mark it as a castle site, though no clear remains of this structure survive today. Moving eastward, visitors encounter an impressive series of defensive features including a 105-metre-long earthen and stone bank with an accompanying fosse, several small stone enclosures that appear to be hut sites, and curious arrangements of water-rolled beach stones that may have marked boundaries or pathways. One enclosure shows evidence of a possible hearth, suggesting domestic use.

The most spectacular features lie further north, where the peninsula narrows again to form another isthmus dominated by four massive earthen banks known locally as ‘Balor’s Fort’, named after the mythical Fomorian king. These impressive defences, complete with intervening ditches and a stone-lined causeway, protect an area containing at least twenty hut circles scattered across a south-facing slope. These circular and oval structures, built directly on the island’s rocky surface, measure up to 10 metres across with walls as much as 3 metres wide. Among them are three sites known as ‘Diarmuid and Grania’s’, circular depressions named after the legendary lovers from Irish mythology. To the east, a narrow blade of rock called Tor-more juts into the sea, virtually inaccessible except for a small level area protected by a rock-cut fosse. The entire complex presents an almost impregnable appearance from sea level, demonstrating the strategic importance of this location throughout history.