County: Kilkenny Site name: Donaghmore/Toor More
Sites and Monuments Record No.: KK010-007001 Licence number: 13E0268
Author: William O'Brien
Site type: Hillfort
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 647590m, N 671037m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.788244, -7.294468
Sample excavation was conducted in summer 2013 at a prehistoric hillfort near Ballyragget, Co. Kilkenny. The site at Donaghmore/Toor More comprises two widely spaced, concentric, circular enclosures over an area of 8.94ha. The project involved trenching the inner and outer defences of this enclosure to recover dating evidence and information on the design and construction of the hillfort. The inner enclosure was surrounded by a wooden palisade erected inside a low bank with an external rock-cut ditch. The outer enclosure consisted of a similar arrangement. Both palisades were burnt down, with charred timbers found during excavation. Radiocarbon dates confirm the site was built c.1218–1058, which spans the transition from the Middle to Late Bronze Age in Ireland.
Department of Archaeology, University College Cork
