Hilltop enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on the summit of a hill in an upland area with a nearby ringfort (TN034-069----) to NW. A large oval-shaped area (diam. 126m SE-NW; 130m NE-SW) enclosed by an earth and stone bank (Wth 1-1.5m; ext. H 2-2.5m; int. H 0.3m) mainly reduced to a scarp with no entrance feature visible. The interior maintains the natural hill slope. The external drystone wall facing of the scarp may be of nineteenth-century date. Possible hillfort reused as a landscape feature associated with nearby big house.
Recently described in the Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland as following; 'Multiple enclosure on low hilltop at E foothills of Silvermines Mountains, overlooking Cromoge River to E with panoramic views. Possible bivallate hillfort with total site footprint of 9.7ha. There are no recorded entrance features. No evidence for any internal features on the surface. Inner enclosing elements are reduced to scarp and first edition Ordnance Survey mapping indicates the rampart was much more impressive than at present. Possible concentric outer enclosing elements apparent in first edition Ordnance Survey mapping. These have been destroyed and are now only visible to the N. Interior under pasture. First map depiction in first edition Ordnance Survey 6 inch mapping. Monument surveyed by Farrelly and O'Brien (2002). Inner enclosing elements comprise a bank of earth 1.6m wide and 0.3m high with no obvious ditch feature. External drystone wall facing in some sections is likely to be of nineteenth-century date (Farrelly and O'Brien 2002). First edition Ordnance Survey mapping indicates that the enclosing elements were originally much more substantial. Possible outer enclosing element identified on aerial photography and first edition Ordnance Survey mapping. Apparent to the N, NE and W as a concentric bank approximately 125m from the inner enclosing elements.' (http://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk/records/IR0715.html)

The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary. Vol. 1 - North Tipperary' compiled by Jean Farrelly and Caimin O'Brien (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly and Caimin O'Brien

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 6 February 2020

References

Lock, G. and Ralston, I. 2017 Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland.(Online website at https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk)