The fort occupied a strategic position on the shoulder of a hill that dropped away steeply towards the southwest, taking advantage of both the natural defensive qualities of the terrain and the fertile agricultural land that surrounded it. Though no physical traces remain today, its absence from the first and second editions of the Ordnance Survey six-inch maps tells us something about how early it disappeared from view, likely demolished or absorbed back into farmland well before the systematic mapping of Ireland began in the 19th century.

Ringforts like this one were amongst the most common settlement types in early medieval Ireland, typically dating from around 500 to 1200 AD. These circular earthwork enclosures, known locally as ‘raths’ or ‘forts’, served as protected farmsteads for prosperous families; their raised banks and ditches provided security for both people and livestock whilst establishing the social status of their inhabitants. The choice of location at Kildrum Upper, with its commanding views and productive soil, suggests this was home to a family of some standing in the local community.

The fort’s documentation comes from the Archaeological Survey of County Donegal, a comprehensive catalogue compiled in 1983 that attempted to record every known archaeological site in the county, from prehistoric stone circles to 17th century castles. Whilst many ringforts across Ireland have survived as distinctive circular earthworks visible in fields and pastures, the Kildrum Upper fort joins thousands of others that exist only in memory, their banks levelled by centuries of ploughing and their ditches filled in to maximise farmable land. These lost sites remind us that the Irish landscape was once far more densely populated with these early medieval homesteads than the surviving monuments might suggest.