Baltinglass hillfort complex
| Alternative name | Baltinglass-Kilranelagh hillfort complex |
|---|---|
| Location | near Baltinglass, County Wicklow, Ireland |
| Type | Hillfort complex |
| Area | Slaney Valley |
Baltinglass hillfort complex, sometimes known as the Baltinglass-Kilranelagh hillfort complex, is a cluster of 13 prehistoric hillforts near Baltinglass, County Wicklow.
Tom Condit (Office of Public Works) dubbed Baltinglass as the "hillfort capital of Ireland" in 1992.[1] As of 2024, 13 large hilltop enclosures have been identified across seven hills, within a 10 km radius of Baltinglass,[2] making Baltinglass the only area with more than two hillforts.[3]
Hillforts
- On Baltinglass Hill:
- On Spinans Hill:
- Spinans Hill 1, neolithic.[5]
- Spinans Hill 2, undated,[5] one of the largest hillforts in Ireland, discovered by Tom Condit in the 1990s using Irish Army Air Corps photographs.[6]
- Brusselstown Ring, undated,[5] recorded on OS map in 1838.[4] 600 suspected hilltop dwellings have been identified in Brusselstown making it the largest nucleated prehistoric settlement by far ever discovered in Ireland and Britain.[7]
- On Kilranelagh Hill:
- Hughstown, on Carrigeen Hill, neolithic,[5] recorded by a Cambridge University aerial survey in the 1960s.[8]
- Tinoran Hill, Bronze Age,[5] discovered by Tom Condit in the 1990s using Irish Army Air Corps photographs.[6]
- Corballis Hill, undated.[5]
- Fauna Hill, undated,[5] recorded by Liam Price, rediscovered by LiDAR survey.[8]
Notes
- ^ Condit, Tom (1992). "Ireland's Hillfort Capital: Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow". Archaeology Ireland. 6 (3): 16–20. ISSN 0790-892X.
- ^ O'Driscoll et al. (2024), p. 20.
- ^ O’Driscoll, James (2017). "Ireland's 'Hillfort Capital' Revisited". Archaeology Ireland. 31 (4): 30–34. ISSN 0790-892X.
- ^ a b c O'Driscoll et al. (2024), p. 31.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m O'Driscoll et al. (2024), p. 35.
- ^ a b O'Driscoll et al. (2024), p. 34.
- ^ Multiple sources:
- Brandherm, Dirk; Edwards, Cherie; Boutoille, Linda; O'Driscoll, James (18 November 2025). "Brusselstown Ring: a nucleated settlement agglomeration in prehistoric Ireland". Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.15184/aqy.2025.10247. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
- "Wicklow hillfort designated Ireland's earliest proto-town". RTÉ News. 8 January 2026.
- Fleck, Holly (1 January 2026). "New discovery may challenge theory Vikings built first Irish towns". BBC News.
- ^ a b O'Driscoll et al. (2024), p. 33.
References
- O'Driscoll, James; Hawkes, Alan; O'Brien, William (2024). Baltinglass and the Prehistoric Hillforts of Ireland. Dublin: Wordwell. ISBN 978-1916742086.