2015:303 - Tinoran, Wicklow

In August 2015 sample excavation was conducted at a prehistoric hillfort at Tinoran, Co. Wicklow. This is the largest known single hillfort in Ireland, with four or possibly five concentric enclosures surrounding an area estimated at 84ha. It is one of a cluster of hillforts in the Baltinglass area of Co. Wicklow, close to the county boundary with Kildare. The excavation was undertaken as part of a research project on prehistoric hillforts in Ireland, based in University College Cork and funded by the Irish Research Council. The investigation at Tinoran consisted of a single trench excavated across the defences of both the third and fourth enclosures of this hillfort. This confirmed the presence of a substantial stone bank around the third enclosure, inside which evidence of occupation in the form of burnt spreads and coarseware pottery. The defences of the fourth enclosure are somewhat different, represented by the remains of an earthen bank and ditch that was levelled in modern times. A series of radiocarbon dates are available from the excavation of the third enclosure. These indicate a date range of 1155–980 BC for construction of the stone bank, with later occupation at that location dated 890–795 BC. Radiocarbon dating provides a terminus ante quem of 805–785 BC for the ditch of the fourth enclosure.

Department of Archaeology, University College Cork