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Dun an Oir

The promontory fort of Fort Del Oro or Dun an Oir, as it is known in Gaelic, lies on the west side of Smerwick Harbour in the Dingle Peninsula in the extreme south west of lreland.In the sixteenth century Dingle became an impor tant port for trading and had strong links with Spain. On 15 July 1 579,CharlesVof Spain sent an expeditionaryforce to Dingle under the leadership of James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald, a cousin of Dingle’s powerful overlord, Gerat, the sixteenth Earl of Desmond.Almost as soon as he landed Fitzgerald was ambushed and killed by the Burkes of Limerick.

Although the Earl of Desmond had promised to help his kinsmen when theyarrived at Dingle he was afraid to anger Queen Elizabeth I so he sent word to her forces about the threat from Spain.The Spanish left Dingle and sailed round the coast until they landed at Ferriters Cove. Once on land they built the Fort Del Oro as their base for operations against England. On 11 November 1580 the fort was besieged by an English force led by Lord Grey. Once again the garrison hoped for assistance from the Earl of Desmofld and once again none was forthcoming.

Realizing that the situation was hopeless, the Spanish set down their arms. Even though the Spanish had surrendered, the English troops slaughtered them all, women and children too, in cold blood and left their corpses in heaps to rot away on land or to be washed away by the sea. This site is now much overgrown, but a number of fea tures survive to bear witness to its bloody past and many believe it is haunted.

A local farmer recently claimed to have seen three skeletons floating out to sea, while another man said that he counted 12 skulls bobbing in the water. To this day around the time of the anniversary of the massacre locals living near Fort Del Oro report hearing agonized voices speaking in Spanish and crying out in pain and fear. Others say they can still smell the horrific stench of rotting flesh wafting on the breeze. Cork | Herne Bay |