Rathgall Hillfort

Rathgall, the Bright Fort or the Fort of Strangers, is a hillfort of huge historical and archaeological significance on the edge of a ridge between Tullow and Shillelagh on the Wicklow and Carlow border, with panoramic views. Four concentric ramparts enclose 7.5 hectares, up to 320 metres across: the outer three stone banks date mainly to the twelfth and eleventh centuries BC, while the inner circle, a massive drystone wall four metres thick, was built or rebuilt in medieval times. Barry Raftery's excavations from 1969 found more than ten thousand objects in the inner circle in the first year alone, including clay moulds for casting bronze tools and weapons; in 1974 came 88 blue-green glass beads and a mercury-gilded disc dated to about 1000 BC, six centuries earlier than any known use of the technique. The site is free, unstaffed and open-air, with a car park and a walkway through pasture to paths along the ramparts; there are no facilities.