  Brusselstown Ring Brusselstown Ring (island of Ireland) | |
| Alternative name | Brusselstown Hill Fort |
|---|---|
| Location | County Wicklow, Ireland |
| Region | Mid-East |
| Coordinates | 52°57′48″N 6°37′00″W / 52.963204°N 6.616722°W |
| Type | Promontory fort |
| Part of | Baltinglass hillfort complex |
| Length | 300 yards (270 m)[1] |
| Width | 200 yards (180 m)[1] |
| Area | 9 acres (3.6 ha)[1] |
| Height | 5 feet (1.5 m)[1] |
| History | |
| Material | Granite |
| Founded | circa 1000 BC |
| Periods | Bronze Age–Iron Age |
| Cultures | Prehistoric Ireland |
| Site notes | |
| Public access | Yes |
Brusselstown Ring (also called Brusselstown Hill Fort) is a promontory fort located on Spinans Hill in the barony of Upper Talbotstown near Kiltegan, east of Baltinglass in west County Wicklow, Ireland. It was probably constructed about 1,000 BC.[2]
Baltinglass area hill forts edit
Brusselstown Ring is one of nine hillforts comprising a hillfort cluster around the town of Baltinglass. Its scale and concentration are unrivalled in Ireland or elsewhere in Europe. It is comparable to the areas around the Boyne Valley or Stonehenge.[3]
Description and classification edit
Brusselstown Ring is a multiple enclosure surrounding the SE flat-topped summit of Spinans Hill at SW edge of Wicklow mountains, with panoramic views. It has a total footprint of 32.43ha making it one of the largest hillforts in Ireland. The inner enclosing elements forms a complete circuit. The outer has been damaged at the SW but likely formed a complete circuit. The are four possible original entrances comprising simple breaks in the inner bank at the N, E, S and W. There are no apparent entrance features in the outer enclosing elements. Two structures have been recorded within the inner enclosure. Twenty three structures immediately outside the inner enclosing feature have also been identified (Grogan and Kilfeather 1997, 41). Internal enclosing elements survives almost intact. The outer has been damaged at SW and is covered by grass and heather for much of its circuit. Interior under grassland.[4]
Professor Barry Raftery classifieda Brusselstown Ring as one of the largest Class 1 Hill forts in the country. It is northwest-southeast-oriented with a sunken stone wall enclosing an oval area of 320 × 200 m.[5] The one meter high granite stone wall is between five and twelve feet wide, and is not supplemented by a moat. Some hut sites exist within the ring.[5] Excavations at the site indicated activity here until the late Iron Age and was probably built around 1,000 BC.[6] The interior has a plurality of raised outcrops of limestone, and some cottage sites.
The fort does not show up in the 1650s Down Survey but one of the earliest references to the name is in 1604 to "Brynsmalstowne" in the Calendar of Patent Rolls of James I, followed by six other 17th century references with different spellings.[1]
Footnotes edit
- a.^ Professor Raftery (1944-2010) examined 40 single and multiple mounded plants on the island (known as 80) and divided this hill fort in three classes:
- Class 1: Simple mounded plants of earth or stone, with or without digging.
- Class 2: Plants with large-scale, multiple ramparts on hills or cliffs.
- Class 3: Inland Promontory Forts
References edit
- ^ a b c d e Price, Liam (1949). The Place-Names of County Wicklow. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. pp. 161–165.
- ^ "County Wicklow in Prehistory" (PDF). The Heritage Council. September 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
{{cite web}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; 21 August 2016 suggested (help) - ^ Russell, Michael (7 July 2020). "Kilranelagh: inspiration for ancient saga and modern detective series". Irish Times. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
- ^ "IR0718 Brusselstown Ring, Wicklow". Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. Archaeological Survey of Ireland. Retrieved 24 June 2021.{{cc-by-sa-4.0}}
- ^ a b Halpin, Andy; Newman, Conor (2006). Ireland: An Oxford Archaeological Guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 338. ISBN 978-0-19-288057-4.
- ^ Hargaden, Mary (7 May 2014). "Dunlavin and Donard - A Brief History of Some Civil Parishes in the Barony of Lower Talbotstown". County Wicklow Heritage. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
{{cite web}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; 25 January 2020 suggested (help)
Further reading edit
- Matthew Stout: The Irish Ring Fort (Irish Settlement Studies, Number 5), Four Courts Press, Dublin 1997, ISBN 1-85182-582-7
External links edit
Sources: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Brussellstown+ring
- Wicklow Archaeology and History Volume 1, County Wicklow Archaeological Society, 1998 (linked from this webpage)