FORTS

Navan, Dun Ailinne and Tara are obviously exceptional sites which can scarcely be regarded as shedding much light on the typical settlements of iron age Ireland.

Figure 33.9 The Dorsey, Co. Armagh, linear earthworks. (After Lynn 1989.)

Indeed, it is, as already noted, our continued inability to recognize these settlements which is one of the greatest obstacles to our proper understanding of the period. A few occupation sites have been unearthed but these have not been illuminating in our search for information on the nature of secular settlement in iron age Ireland. Otherwise, the only possibility of pinpointing the settlements of the iron age occupants of Ireland is, at least for the moment, offered by an examination of fortified sites, both inland and coastal.

Because of the essentially non-defensive character of the royal sites it is not appropriate to refer to them as hill-forts in the strictest sense of the word. True hill-forts are, however, known in Ireland (B. Raftery 1972, 1976) even though they are far fewer than has sometimes been suggested in the past. Categorization of unexcavated sites is generally hazardous in Ireland but we can take It that there are at least three dozen sites which may be accepted Into the hill-fort class. They are usually of fairly simple character, appearing in most instances as either a single rampart, or a series of widely spaced ramparts (Figure 33.10), encircling the summit of a hill. A few inland promontory forts, some with closely spaced multivallation, are also known. At some western sites the ground outside the defensive wall was protected by a band of tightly packed upright stone pillars, a device known as chevaux-de-frise.

Outside Ireland it has been established that hill-forts were an important settlement form of the Early Iron Age though In all areas of Europe it is clear that their origins stretch back into the later Bronze Age. For some reason, however, there has been a persistent tendency in Ireland to assume that the hill-fort in this country is a phenomenon of the Iron Age.

Hillfort excavations in Ireland have not been extensive and most of the questions

Figure 33.10 Multivallatc hill-fort, Mooghaun, Co. Clare, (Photo: D. D.C, Pochin-Mould.)

Concerning their dating and purpose remain open. Increasingly, however, it seems that it was during the later Bronze Age that hillfort construction became widespread. At Haughey’s Fort in Armagh such dating was clearly established (Mallory 1988) and at Rathgall, Co. Wicklow, it is likely that hill-fort construction began in the same period (Raftery 1976). Several other hilltop sites have produced later bronze age remains. While a few have also produced evidence of occupation during the later phases of the Iron Age (e. g. Raftery 1969), in no case has the actual construction of a hill-fort during this period been demonstrated.

The immediate relevance of the hill-fort for a study of the Irish Iron Age is thus not clear and it must be admitted that further excavations may radically alter the present picture. It is, however, interesting to note the significantly southern concentration of hill-forts in areas where La Tene remains are virtually absent. Thus it would appear that the hill-fort in Ireland has little, if anything, to do with the cultural horizon represented by the La Tene metalwork.

This leads, of course, to one of the greatest problems concerning a study of the Irish Iron Age. With La Tene all but non-existent in the south what is there In the archaeological record to represent cultural developments there in the last centuries BC? The answer is, we do not yet know. Hill-forts may one day supply the answer but for the moment we can only assume that in the south, as elsewhere, an Iron Age existed but one wholly devoid of La Tene characteristics.

Coastal promontory forts, too, are enigmatic structures about which we have little information. While in most instances their dating is largely a matter of guesswork, it is likely that some at least of the 250 or so examples belong to the Iron Age. This can, however, only be demonstrated at a single site, at Drumanagh, Loughshinny, Co. Dublin, where a sherd of Gallo-Roman samian ware was found some years ago in association with occupation debris in disturbed soil within the fort (Raftery 1989: 139). Its east coast location and the presence of an excellent harbour there would have made this a choice site for trade between Ireland and the provincial Roman world and recently reported, as yet unpublished, finds from there appear to confirm Its exceptional importance in this regard.