Hillforts

Hillforts and Coastal Promontory Forts
A number of hilltop enclosures are identified as a distinct type of monument
While ringforts and cashels are known from the top of hills, in general, a hillfort is an enclosure placed around the summit of a hill which is larger than a ringfort or a cashel
Rathcoran, County Wicklow
Rathcoran in County Wicklow
Here there is a hillfort
A later ringfort stands in the centre (on top of a passage tomb)
Rathcoran, Co. Wicklow Plan
Rathcoran, Co. Wicklow
Passage Tomb
Types of Hillfort
A small number of basic types of hillfort can be recognised in Ireland
Hillforts where there is a single line of earthworks enclosing the summit of a hill
Hillforts where there are multiple lines of earthworks
Inland Promontory Forts
Hillforts with a single line of defences
Hillforts where there is a single line of earthworks enclosing the summit of a hill
Univallate
Typically enclose an area of 2 – 9 hectares (20,000 to 90,000 m²)
Previously people would include various sites in this category that would not be considered as ‘hillforts’ (e.g. Navan Fort in County Armagh)
Hillforts with a single line of defences
The enclosed area can sometimes include an earlier burial mound
It is unclear how we should interpret this:
Is it necessary to enclose a mound to ‘sanctify’ the site
Or, was just impossible to find a hill without a pre-existing mound?
Hillforts with a single line of defencesDownshill, Co. Wicklow


Hillforts with a single line of defencesDownshill, Co. Wicklow
Hillforts with a single line of defencesBallybuckley, Co. Wexford
Knocknashee,Co. Sligo
Hut sites, passage tombs and other features in the interior
Garrangrena Lower, Co. Tipperary
Hillforts with a single line of defences
Few excavated examples with dating evidence
Freestone Hill, Co. Kilkenny. Excavated by Gerhard Bersu, finds included a 4th century AD Roman coin but no clear idea of date of construction. There is also one unreliable radiocarbon date of 810-550 BC.
Knocknacarrigeen in Co. Galway and Clenagh in Co. Clare have been investigated but neither produced a date for the construction of the ramparts

Hillforts with a single line of defencesBrusselstown Ring, Co. Wicklow
Hillforts with a single line of defencesBrusselstown Ring, Co. Wicklow
Hillforts with a single line of defences
Brusselstown Ring in County Wicklow is actually part of a series of hill top earthworks that includes the enclosed summit of Spinans Hill
Hillforts to the North-east of Baltinglass
Hillforts with multiple lines of defence
Hillforts where there are a more than one line of earthworks enclosing the summit of a hill
Multivallate
Generally have two or three lines of rampart that are often widely spaced
The enclosed area can be up to 20 hectares (200,000 m²)
Rathgall (also known as Rath East)Co. Wicklow
Rathgall, Co. WicklowCentral enclosure in the Late Bronze Age
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceMooghaun Fort, Co. Clare
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceMooghaun Fort, Co. Clare
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceHaughey’s Fort, Co. Armagh
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceHaughey’s Fort, Co. Armagh
Excavated by Prof. Jim Mallory
Three concentric circles of trenches investigated
Also produced some evidence of internal structures
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceHaughey’s Fort, Co. Armagh
A number of sections were excavated across the lines of the ramparts
Only the ditches survived as no traces of banks were recorded
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceHaughey’s Fort, Co. Armagh
Ditch was waterlogged allowing for the survival of wooden finds and other organic material
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceHaughey’s Fort, Co. Armagh
Investigation of the interior produced evidence of various pits and postholes suggesting there were structures within the innermost ditch
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceHaughey’s Fort, Co. Armagh
Features in the interior of Haughey’s Fort
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceHaughey’s Fort, Co. Armagh
Finds from the interior include bronze rings, a gold stud and a fragment of the handle of a decorated bronze cup
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceHaughey’s Fort, Co. Armagh
Stone with rock art from pit in the interior
Hillforts with multiple lines of defenceGrianan Aileach, Co. Donegal
Stone Forts: Staigue, Co. Kerry
Dun Aonghusa, Inis Mór, Aran Islands
Excavation has shown that the earliest phases of Dun Aonghusa begin in the later stages of the Bronze Age.
Dún Dúchathair, Inis Mór
Promontory Forts
A number of promontories cut off either by stone walls or ditches are recognised as a distinct class of site – Promontory Forts
These can either be coastal or, occasionally, on inland promontories
Inland Promontory Forts
Few have been investigated
Knockdhu,Co. Antrim
McArts Fort, Cavehill, Co. Antrim