Full title: Exploring the Baltinglass cursus complex: routes for the dead
Creator / Author: James O’Driscoll
Item Type / Page count: Journal Article (online) / 18p
Journal Information: Antiquity First View, pp. 1-18
When Published: 25th April 2024
Publisher / Place of Publication: Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd. / Cambridge, CB2 8AE, United Kingdom
About: James O’Driscoll, who has spent the past number of years investigating the Baltinglass Hillfort Complex, now presents his latest findings in an online article under the aegis of the scholarly journal ‘Antiquity’. The author describes a cluster of cursus monuments that have been discovered using the newest archaeology tools and techniques. This is the first time that a cluster of such monuments has been discoved in Ireland. The author concludes that the monuments “demonstrate a clear connection between the dead, major solar events and seasonal farming cycles”.
ID number(s): 0003-598X (Print), 1745-1744 (Online)
Article Contents: Abstract — Introduction — Neolithic Ireland and the Baltinglass Landscape — The Baltinglass Cursus Monuments — The Baltinglass Cursus Monuments in Context — Routes for the Dead? — Conclusion — Funding Statement — References.
Extra #4: The findings of James O’Driscoll in the above article have been picked up by a number of news outlets and social media streams. For example, ‘Newsweek’ (online edition) contains this item by Aristos Georgiou.
Full title: Journal of the West Wicklow Historical Society: Number 12, 2023-24
Creator / Author: West Wicklow Historical Society & contributors, joint editors Chris Lawlor, Declan Keenan
Item Type / Page count: Journal (Complete issue) / 200p
When Published: 2023
Publisher / Place of Publication: West Wicklow Historical Society / Baltinglass (?), Co. Wicklow.
About: This twelveth publication of this biennial journal was launched in the Coimín Centre, Blessington on 9/11/2023. It includes perhaps the most diverse set of topics yet to appear in this journal. Full contents are listed below. The most extensive article in this issue runs to 24 pages. In it, Peter W. Halligan provides an enlightening account of the castles at Oldcourt and Three Castles.
ID number(s): 0790-1739
Contents: Foreword from the Chairman / Paul Gorry — Donal McDonnell (1945-2022) — Secretary’s Synopsis / Cora Crampton — Noel Lyons (1942-2022) — Editor’s Preface / Chris Lawlor — Mapping the devolved Gaelic territories and districts of the O’Tooles / Declan Keenan — Migrant railway workers and local communities: a case study of Harristown station on the Sallins-Tullow branch line 1883-1951 / John O’Brien — Some observations on the Great famine in County Wicklow, c.1845-1850 / Gerald Cullen — Gentry, Brides and Lions / Maura Murphy Gibson — The man who wore a blue shirt in 1933: the Bass War in West Wicklow and Kildare / Declan O’Connor — A little bit of Bulgaria in Ireland: Pierce O’Mahony (1850-1930): politician and philanthropist / Brian McCabe — Dame Ninette de Valois (Edris Stannus) / Paul Tyrell — A 1792 Rental of the Lordship of Belan, Co. Kildare / Richard B. Lennon —Language Matters Revisited / Ita Roddy — Death from a Flat-Nosed Bullet in Blessington / James Scannell — A farming community: Hollywood in the early twentieth century / John Glennon — Sadhbh O’Byrne – glimpses of a Gaelic woman of sixteenth-century Ireland / Cora Crampton — The Manor of Blessington, created by Michael Boyle / Jim Corley — Revisiting the 1798 Dunlavin massacre for its 225th anniversary / Chris Lawlor — Balfe the Robber / Brendan Corrigan — A sociological interpretation of the Hillfort Capital – exploring Hughstown and Tinoran hillforts (part 1 of 3) / Mairéad Kelly — Charles Maule Drury (1848-1939) – collector of folklore / Paul Gorry — The castles of Oldcourt and Three Castles / Peter W. Halligan — ‘I say it as I think it’ : The life and controversial times of Rev. T. C. O’Connor, Rector of Donoughmore and Donard / Rosemary Raughter — Query / Peter W. Halligan.
Extra #1: Illustrated throughout with black & white photographs and maps.
Full title: Rathgall – piecing together the mosaic of a later prehistoric landscape
Creator / Author: James O’Driscoll and Katharina Becker
Item Type / Page count: Journal Article / 6p
Journal Information: Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 30-35
When Published: Winter 2022
Publisher / Place of Publication: Wordwell Ltd. / Unit 9, 78 Furze Road, Sandyford, Dublin 18.
About: An article that summarises the most up-to-date information about what the authors describe as “one of the pre-eminent later prehistoric sites in the country”. The newest archaeological tools and techniques suggest that Rathgall was part of a wider prehistoric landscape and this article sets out to interpret the latest findings.
ID number(s): 0790-892X
Extra #1: includes several colour and b/w photographs.
Extra #2: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.
Extra #4: Read this article online via JSTOR. [Personal registration / conditions apply]. Alternatively, your local public library may provide free online access to this article.
Full title: Hillforts, Warfare and Society in Bronze Age Ireland
Creator / Author: William O’Brien and James O’Driscoll
Item Type / Page count: Book and ebook / 522pp
When Published: 2017
Publisher / Place of Publication: Archaeo Press Publishing / Gordon House, 276 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 7ED
About: This very substantial and highly-illustrated scholarly volume combines traditional archaeological methods of survey and excavation with modern techniques of remote sensing and GIS (Geographical Informations Systems) landscape analysis to study hillforts in the wider context of warfare and conflict in Ireland during the Bronze Age. Three chapters of the book are specifically dedicated to a detailed landscape study of the Baltinglass Hillfort Complex, which sheds new light on nine individual sites in the area.
ID number(s): 9781784916558 / 9781784916565
Contents: List of Figures – Acknowledgements — Chapter 1: Introduction / William O’Brien — Chapter 2: Prehistoric Hillforts in Ireland and Europe / James O’Driscoll — Chapter 3: Clashanimud Hillfort, Co Cork / William O’Brien — Chapter 4: Other Bronze Age hillforts in Munster/South Leinster / William O’Brien — Chapter 5 [expanded contents]: The Baltinglass Hillfort Landscape of County Wicklow / James O’Driscoll — 5.1: Natural landscape — 5.2: History of research — 5.3: Spinans Hill — 5.4: Kilranlagh — 5.5: Tuckmill Hill — 5.6: Tinoran — 5.7: Hughstown — 5.8: The wider landscape — 5.9: Excavations and finds in the Baltinglass environs — 5.10: Conclusion — Chapter 6 [expanded contents]: The Baltinglass Hillfort Excavations / William O’Brien — 6.1: Spinans Hill 1, Co Wicklow — 6.2: Rathnagree, Co Wicklow — 6.3: Sruhaun, Co Wicklow — 6.4: Tinoran, Co Wicklow — 6.5: Hughstown, Co Kildare — Chapter 7: Chronology / William O’Brien — Chapter 8 [expanded contents]: Modelling the Baltinglass Hillfort Landscape / James O’Driscoll — 8.1: Landscape models for hillfort settlement: a review — 8.2: GIS models of the Baltinglass hillfort landscape –8.3: Modelling hillfort construction at Baltinglass — 8.4: Conclusion — Chapter 9: Hillforts and Warfare in Bronze Age Ireland / William O’Brien — Chapter 10: The Hillfort in Bronze Age Ireland / James O’Driscoll and William O’Brien — Catalogue of Prehistoric Hillforts in Ireland / James O’Driscoll – Bibliography.
Extra #1: Includes over 400 photographs, illustrations and maps.
Extra #2: The cover features a photograph of Brussellstown Ring.
Extra #3: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.
Full title: Journal of the West Wicklow Historical Society: Number 9, 2017
Creator / Author: West Wicklow Historical Society & contributors, joint editors Chris Lawlor, Donal McDonnell
Item Type / Page count: Journal (Complete issue) / 170p
When Published: 2017
Publisher / Place of Publication: West Wicklow Historical Society / Baltinglass (?), Co. Wicklow.
About: This ninth publication of a set of articles on aspects of West Wicklow history is the most substantial yet with articles of the highest quality. A diverse range of topics is covered from medieval stone lamps and sheep wash-holes to the Plymouth Brethren and railway accidents. The most extensive article in this issue is by Chris Lawlor which looks at the impact of the Civil War on ordinary citizens as reflected in compensation claim records. Overall this publication makes a most appealing Christmas stocking-filler for anyone interested in West Wicklow history.
ID number(s): 0790-1739
Contents: Foreword from the Chairman / John A. O’Toole — Ramblings of the Secretary / Donal McDonnell — Editor’s Preface / Chris Lawlor — Archaeological excavation on Baltinglass Hill – Lathaleere – the evolution of a place-name / Paul Gorry — Death in the Glen of Imaal – 16th September 1941 / James Scannell — The Plymouth Brethren and the Baltinglass connection / Cora Crampton – The Boyestowne Lordship: Baltyboys, Tulfarris & Humphreystown 1650-1850 [Part One] / Brendan Corrigan — County Wicklow Grand Jury 1793 – William Hanbidge’s recollections of wool-weaving in the 1820’s / John Hussey — A light into medieval Ireland: some thoughts on cresset-stones and a previously undocumented example from Newry townland, southwest Wicklow / Lorcan Harney — Denis Gavin and Ellen Murphy: early Queensland pioneers / Pauleen Cass — Odd fish in West Wicklow / Christopher Moriarty — Sheep wash-holes in West Wicklow / Seamus Balfe and John Hussey — A fatal accident on the Dublin & Blessington tram line in 1912 / James Scannell — Ernest Molyneux of The Decoy / Tom Molyneux – Tuckmills in West Wicklow / John Hussey — Trouble with the points / James Scannell – Three men and a (little) mountain / Brian McCabe – Raids, requisitions and recompense: the Civil War’s impact on West Wicklow, 1922-3 / Chris Lawlor – Review: Brendan Corrigan’s The History of Hollywood Co Wicklow / John Glennon.
Extra #1: Illustrated throughout with black & white photographs, maps, drawings and graphs.
Full title: Journal of the West Wicklow Historical Society: Number 8, 2015
Creator / Author: West Wicklow Historical Society & contributors, joint editors Chris Lawlor, Donal McDonnell
Item Type / Page count: Journal (Complete issue) / 148p
When Published: 2015
Publisher / Place of Publication: West Wicklow Historical Society / Baltinglass (?), Co. Wicklow.
About: This eighth publication of a set of articles on aspects of West Wicklow history is the biggest issue yet. The articles span the centuries from c.1000 BC to modern times and feature locations from Hollywood to New South Wales. The most extensive article in this issue is by James O’Driscoll and concerns itself with the hillforts of the Baltinglass area and the techniques used in their construction.
ID number(s): 0790-1739
Contents: A word from the Chairman / Noel Lyons — Ramblings of the Secretary / Donal McDonnell — Editor’s Preface / Chris Lawlor — Tubber and the Castle Leslie connection: an overview of Tubber House and Demesne c. 1764-1824 / Emma Lyons – Hillfort construction at Baltinglass: building Ireland’s hillfort capital / James O’Driscoll — From crime to wine: The Claytons of New South Wales / Margaret Smith — Robert Pipho and the Baltinglass Rebellion / Brendan Corrigan — ‘Yes, this is Wicklow’: recovering George Francis Savage-Armstrong as a poet of Wicklow / Rosemary Raughter – Not so doddery: the Dunlavin solicitor, Mr. Dodd / Declan O’Connor — A Black and Tan executed / D.J. Kelly — A famous row between two publicans in 1886 / John Glennon — Rathdangan and Killamoate: my native area / Peadar C. Ó Cuilinn — In the shadow of Joseph Holt / Henry Austin — Death on a country road / James Scannell — Poor men and poor women / Joe McArdle – Two August 1911 cycling mishaps / James Scannell — The Dunlavin massacre: two ballads of 1798 / Chris Lawlor.
Extra #1: Illustrated throughout with black & white photographs, maps and drawings.
Publisher / Place of Publication: Archaeology Ireland / Media House, South County Business Park, Dublin 18.
About: This is a glossy A4 brochure which folds out to the equivalent of six A4-size pages. It is Number 51 in the Archaeology Ireland Heritage Guide Series. It is a beautifully presented summation of what is known about the hillfort of Rathgall in South West Wicklow.
ID number(s): None. The ID number 0790-892X printed on the brochure relates to the journal ‘Archaeology Ireland’.
Contents: Introduction – Visible features – The excavation – Rathgall through time – The hillfort ramparts – The area within rampart 1 – The eastern area of industrial activity – The eastern Bronze Age burial complex – Iron Age, medieval and post-medieval activity – Further reading.
Extra #1: includes several colour photographs, plus plans, plus maps.
Extra #3: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.
Extra #4: Read this publication online via JSTOR. [Personal registration / conditions apply]. Alternatively, your local public library may provide free online access to the publication.
Full title: Archaeological Inventory of County Wicklow
Creator / Author: Compiled by Eoin Grogan and Annaba Kilfeather
Item Type / Page count: Book / 258pp
When Published: 1997
Publisher / Place of Publication: Stationery Office / Dublin.
About: This book is part of a series produced by the Archaeological Survey of Ireland, which aims to list all known archaeological monuments in each county. This Wicklow catalogue alone lists 1200 sites. It would be invidious to pick out just some places of major importance. Suffice to say that no matter what part of West Wicklow you come from, there is sure to be at least one item of archaeological interest listed here.
ID number(s): 0707649439
Chapters: Introduction – Flint Scatters – Megalithic Tombs – Neolithic Single Burials –Bronze Age Burials — Barrows – Cairns – Ring-cairns – Tumuli — Rock Art – Stone Circles — Standing Stones – Fulachta Fiadh – Miscellaneous Burials – Hillforts – Coastal Promontory Forts – Ringforts – Souterrains – Enclosures – Earthworks – Settlement Sites – Toghers and Roads – Ecclesiastical Sites – Medieval Monastic Sites – Graveyards and Burial Grounds – Children’s Burial Grounds — Ecclesiastical Miscellanea – Bullaun Stones – Ogham Stones – Wayside Cross – Holy Wells – Moated Sites – Rectangular Enclosures – Medieval Earthwork Castles – Anglo-Norman Stone Fortresses – Hall House – Sites of Castles – Tower Houses – Fortified Houses – Historic Towns – Later Houses – Mills and Millstones – Charcoal and Ironworking Sites – Sweathouses – Battlefields – Glossary – Bibliography – Subject and Townland Indexes – Location Maps.
Extra #1: Contains many photographs both colour and black & white.
Full title: Rathgall, County Wicklow: Dún Galion and the “Dunum” of Ptolemy
Creator / Author: Goddard H. Orpen
Item Type / Page count: Journal Article / 17p
Journal Information: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Vol. 32, (1914 – 1916), pp. 41-57
When Published: 1913
Publisher / Place of Publication: Royal Irish Academy / Dawson Street, Dublin
About: An article that tries to place Rathgall Hillfort in the context of Irish prehistory as described in various ancient tracts. It also attempts to match the site to that identified as Dunum by Ptolemy the Greek in the second century A.D.
Extra #1: includes plan of the site.
Extra #2: Read this article online via JSTOR. [Personal registration / conditions apply]. Alternatively, your local public library may provide free online access to this article.
Full title: Wicklow: history & society – interdisciplinary essays on the history of an Irish county
Creator / Author: Ken Hannigan and William Nolan (editors) & contributors.
Item Type / Page count: Book / 1005p
When Published: 1994
Publisher / Place of Publication: Geography Publications / 24 Kennington Rd., Templeogue, Dublin 6W.
About: The major history of the County of Wicklow, this is the seventh volume in the Irish County History Series which eventually aims to cover all 32 counties. It brings together 25 essays written by experts in their field and covers aspects of Wicklow history and society from prehistorical to modern times.
ID number(s): 0906602300 / 9780906602300
Contents: Wicklow’s prehistoric landscape / Geraldine Stout — Kings, saints and sagas / Alfred P. Smyth — Evidence of Scandinavian settlement in Wicklow / Colmán Etchingham — The unity of Cóemgen and Ciarán: a covenant between Glendalough and Clonmacnois in the tenth to eleventh centuries / A. S. MacShamhráin — Medieval Wicklow -‘A land of war’ / J. F. Lydon — Anglo-Norman settlement in Uí Briúin Chualann, 1169-1350 / Linzi Simpson — Three settlements of Gaelic Wicklow: Rathgall, Ballinacor and Glendalough / Harry Long — Settlers’ utilisation of the natural resources / Rolf Loeber — The Byrnes of Ballymanus / Conor O’Brien — The rebellion of 1798 in County Wicklow / Ruan O’Donnell — Masters of the mountains: the insurgent careers of Joeseph Holt and Michael Dwyer, County Wicklow, 1798-1803 / Thomas Bartlett — Politics and rebellion: Wicklow in the 1790s / L. M. Cullen — The Poor Law in County Wicklow / Eva O’ Cathaoir — Vernacular rural dwellings of the Wicklow Mountains / F. H. A. Aalen — The holy wells of County Wicklow: traditions and legends / Geraldine Lynch — Land and landscape in County Wicklow / William Nolan — Synge and Wicklow / Nicholas Grene — A survey: some Wicklow maps 1500-1888 / Patrick Power — The mining community at Avoca 1780-1880 / Des Cowman — Wicklow before and after the famine / Ken Hannigan — The evolution of forestry in County Wicklow from prehistory to the present / Mary Kelly Quinn — From Grand Jury to County Council: an overview of local administration in Wicklow, 1605-1898 / Brian Donnelly — Parnell and his neighbours / R. F. Foster — A rightful place in the sun: the struggle of the farm and rural labourers in County Wicklow / Ross M. Connolly — ‘The water was the sheriff’: the land beneath the Poulaphuca reservoir / Fiachra Mac Gabhann — A select bibliography of printed books on County Wicklow / Joan Kavanagh.
WW Connection #1: Contains several essays relevant to West Wicklow history and archaeology.
Extra #1: Contains many illustrations, photographs and maps.
Extra #2: Contains a fold-out reproduction of Jacob Nevill’s 1760 map of the county.
West Wicklow Bookshelf 