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<< Our Photo Pages >> Turlough Hill Neolithic fort - Hillfort in Ireland (Republic of) in Co. Clare

Submitted by optimistic20814 on Friday, 23 September 2016  Page Views: 4912

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Turlough Hill Neolithic fort
Country: Ireland (Republic of) County: Co. Clare Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Galway  Nearest Village: Oughtmama
Map Ref: M31410732
Latitude: 53.112320N  Longitude: 9.025013W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
5 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
2 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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Turlough Hill Neolithic fort
Turlough Hill Neolithic fort submitted by optimistic20814 : The cairn near the fort's entrance with Slieve Carran in the background. (Vote or comment on this photo)
The OS marked site of the Turlough Hill neolithic fort takes some work to get to but is fully worth the effort. Best accessed from the Oughtmama Valley to the west, there is a track to the head of the valley near the site of three evocative, ruined early Christian churches and a holy well.

Once at the end of the track, climb up to the left or northeast to find a tall cairn of ancient but unknown age. From the cairn walk to the obvious wall of the shoulder - this wall is also of ancient and unknown age but used to mark the Clare Galway border - and follow the wall up the hill to the right - northeast - to find another, more ruined cairn near the entrance to the hill fort. The fort's wall survives in its full circle which is very large and one must walk it to see all of it. It can be seen quite clearly on Google Maps [use the third blue aeroplane link above]

From the inside, the walls are only a few feet high, but much higher when viewed from the outside which includes what seems to be a part natural, part man-made bank upon which the wall was built. Also inside, there is evidence of structures, but indistinct. Walking the summit a kilometer or so to the SW will bring you to a huge summit cairn/tomb and dozens of ancient hut site which is clearly a related but separate site. Views of the Burren, Abbey Hill, Ailwee, and Sleive Carran are particularly stunning. I have never met another person up there.

Note: Excavations of a neolithic house site on Turlough Hill - one of approximately 160 on the hill, along with two (presumably) ritual monuments, a cairn and a labyrinthine-like enclosure
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Turlough Hill Neolithic fort
Turlough Hill Neolithic fort submitted by optimistic20814 : The wall from the outside with my walking stick for scale. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Turlough Hill Neolithic fort
Turlough Hill Neolithic fort submitted by damian120 : The Cairn in the background with the original hut foundations in the foreground The remarkable foundations for the huts. There are over 70 in total. The cairn is in the foreground The Cairn in the background with an original foundation of the 160 circular huts discovered on the site. Image copyright: damian1202, hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Turlough Hill Neolithic fort
Turlough Hill Neolithic fort submitted by damian120 : Turlough Hill Cairn The cairn at the summit of Turlough Hill Image copyright: damian1202, hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Turlough Hill Neolithic fort
Turlough Hill Neolithic fort submitted by optimistic20814 : An indistinct inside structure by the wall. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Turlough Hill Neolithic fort
Turlough Hill Neolithic fort submitted by optimistic20814 : The wall with its bank from the outside of the fort

Turlough Hill Neolithic fort
Turlough Hill Neolithic fort submitted by optimistic20814 : Hill fort wall from the inside with Slieve Carran in the background.

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 1.8km SE 144° Slieve Carran* Cairn
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 11.7km SW 222° Poulawack Rath and Souterrain* Souterrain (Fogou, Earth House)
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 12.1km SW 232° Baur South* Wedge Tomb (M217001)
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"Turlough Hill Neolithic fort" | Login/Create an Account | 3 News and Comments
  
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Surveying Turlough Hill - Dr Stefan Bergh by Andy B on Saturday, 27 January 2018
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The hundred or so hut sites, cairn and enclosure on the exposed summit of Turlough Hill form an enigmatic group of remains without direct parallels in the Burren, or anywhere else in Ireland. Their dramatic and strategic location at the eastern extremity of the Burren, together with the complexity of the remains, indicates that this summit, and any associated activities, possibly had a significance for the entire upland of the Burren.

The location at the edge of the Burren, facing the lowlands to north and east raises important questions relating to identity and landscape. The very large number of hut sites on the summit near the large cairn raises further issues relating to settlement, and the interaction between ritual and secular. In a wider perspective, the interpretation of Turlough Hill is central to our understanding of the meaning, role and use of exposed high ground in prehistoric Ireland.

The remains on the summit have been recently dated to the Bronze Age. The only site in Ireland comparable to Turlough Hill is the plateau of Mullaghfarna in the Bricklieve Mountains, Co. Sligo. This site has produced dates from the Neolithic/Bronze Age. Since the complex has not previously been surveyed, this study is the first critical step towards our understanding of its role and function.

Source:
https://www.nuigalway.ie/colleges-and-schools/arts-social-sciences-and-celtic-studies/geography-archaeology/disciplines/archaeology/research/ireland-atlantic-europe/surveying-turlough-hill/
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Mystery surrounds Burren settlement excavated by archaeologists by Andy B on Saturday, 27 January 2018
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Apr 30, 2016, Irish Times:
Mystery surrounds Burren settlement excavated by archaeologists
Evidence of 160 huts and two labyrinthine enclosures for spiritual or ritual gathering

When a prehistoric people built a large settlement in the Burren up to 3,000 years ago, why did they choose a mountain-top with no running water?

Was it the closest point to a sky god, or was the location selected for some type of ancient gathering or “Dáil”?

“Truly one of the most enigmatic places in Irish prehistory” is how NUI Galway (NUIG) archaeologist Dr Stefan Bergh describes the exposed summit of Turlough Hill in northeast Clare.

His team secured Royal Irish Academy funding for a three-week excavation of a settlement of some 160 circular huts, bordered by a large burial cairn and two large labyrinthine enclosures of stone.

Turlough Hill, overlooking Galway Bay to the north and west and the Slieve Aughty mountains to the east, is the only Burren summit to have evidence of hilltop residence.

It is one of only two of its type on the island, with the second being in Co Sligo.

Whereas a typical prehistoric settlement comprises two or three dwellings, this is the size of a “housing estate”. Blue gentians are currently blooming within the foundations of the huts built across two halves of the summit footprint.

Semi-detached

As Dr Bergh notes on a walkabout with The Irish Times, most of the huts were built on top of the limestone pavement, but some have also been quarried into the bedrock which would have been far less eroded and far richer in vegetation.

Slabs of stone were set along the hut edges, with hazel posts possibly used for skin cover. Most of the huts have a defined entrance or are conjoined with one other in “semi-detached” fashion.

The settlement was not defensive, Dr Bergh believes, although the summit’s distinctive “rim”, comprising an eight-metre-high cliff face, serves as a type of natural “moat”.

The larger of the two enclosures, built some distance from the settlement, is 140m in diameter. It has 10 entrances, and is not a hillfort, Dr Bergh says.

“Its location and construction could suggest that it might have been some sort of gathering place for two different peoples,” he says.

What is even more curious, in his view, is the absence of a regular water supply, and the fact that the occupiers left little or no trace of their activities.

In excavations of several of the huts over the past three weeks, the team has found samples of charcoal and hazelnut shells, along with a hearth for cooking, but no pottery or toolmaking material to date.

The charcoal and shells will be sent to Uppsala in Sweden for radiocarbon dating, according to site director Dr Ros Ó Maoldúin and site supervisor Dr Noel McCarthy.

More at
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/mystery-surrounds-burren-settlement-excavated-by-archaeologists-1.2629951
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Preliminary Report on excavation 16E0130 Turlough Hill by Andy B on Friday, 23 September 2016
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2016 - Preliminary Report on excavation 16E0130 Turlough Hill, Co. Clare.
Dr Ros Ó Maoldúin & Dr Noel McCarthy

This report details the preliminary results of an excavation on the western summit of Turlough Hill, in the Burren of Co. Clare. The excavation comprised two cuttings, each of which traversed a pair of conjoined house-foundations.

The excavations aimed to establish the date, cultural context and basic construction form of the house-foundations. There are approximately 160 such house-sites on Turlough Hill and they surround two presumably ritual monuments, a cairn and a labyrinthine-like enclosure.

No artefacts were found, however, a good amount of charcoal and other charred material retrieved during the excavation should allow for radiocarbon dating of the remains. Ten samples have been sent to the radiocarbon laboratory in Uppsala and we are currently awaiting the results.

https://www.academia.edu/28570513/
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