2005:205 - CLASHANIMUD: Cashel Hillfort, Cork

Excavation was carried out at Cashel hillfort, Co. Cork, in summer 2005, funded by the Royal Irish Academy. A seventeen-week investigation saw a total area of 520m2 excavated at this large bivallate enclosure. The focus of this work was the summit area of the hillfort, the north-west quadrant of the inner enclosure and the defences of both the outer and inner enclosures. The investigation of the summit area and inner enclosure was disappointing, producing no significant finds or features. Excavation of the defences uncovered conclusive evidence of massive timber palisading along the inner enclosure, with post fencing along the top of the outer enclosure bank as well. A previously unknown external ditch was discovered outside the latter bank feature. Radiocarbon results confirm that these defences were built around 1200 BC, consistent with the Late Bronze Age date range now attributed to multivallate hillforts in Ireland.