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: Tullow – from Medieval Manor to Market Town
Creator / Author: Margaret Murphy
Item Type / Page count: Book Chapter / 23pp
When Published: 2008
Publisher / Place of Publication: Geography Publications / 24 Kennington Road, Templeogue, Dublin 6W.
Parent Publication [book]: Carlow: history & society. Interdisciplinary essays on the history of an Irish county / edited by Thomas McGrath / 1070pp
About: A history of Tullow in County Carlow from around the fifth century to beginning of the nineteenth century. In particular the article describes how Tullow survived the transition from a medieval manor to a thriving market town. The author cites the resilience of its people (both native and settler) as the defining characteristic of this period of its history.
ID number(s): 9780906602386
Contents Introduction – Before the Anglo-Normans – After the conquest – The castle and town – Parish church and friary – Mills and weirs – Demesne lands – Tenants — The fourteenth to sixteenth centuries – The post-medieval period — Conclusions – Acknowledgements – Appendix 1: Account of Walter Miller of the ward of Tullow from Tuesday after Michaelmas in the 13th year of King Edward to Michaelmas in the 14th year of King Edward that is for three terms [1265-6] — References.
WW Connection #1: The Manor of Tullow would have extended into parts of West Wicklow such as the areas around Rathgall and Aghowle.
WW Connection #2: The author is a native of Baltinglass.
Extra #1: Includes three maps and two other illustrations.
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: 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.
Full title: A Guide to the Archaeology of County Wicklow
Creator / Author: Eoin Grogan and Tom Hillery
Item Type / Page count: Book / 59p
When Published: 1993
Publisher / Place of Publication: Wicklow County Tourism / County Buildings, Wicklow.
About: Wicklow has a wealth of archaeological sites and ancient monuments. This A4 size publication aims to interest the tourist in this aspect of our heritage. Many West Wicklow sites are included in this excellent and profusely illustrated introduction to the archaeology of Wicklow.
ID number(s): 0951975404
Chapters: The Neolithic: Passage tombs — Late Neolithic burial sites — Wedge tombs — The Early Bronze Age: Ceremonial circles — The Iron Age: hillforts — The Early Medieval Period: Ringforts — Glendalough — Bullauns, graveslabs and ogham stones — Early and later medieval churches — Viking and medieval towns — The Later Medieval Period: Monastic sites — Mottes, moated sites and castles — Anglo-Norman fortifications — Tower houses — Castles — Places of special interest — Archaeological trails — Suggested reading — Glossary — List of sites by townland — List of figures.
Extra #1: Contains plans of all the major sites, drawn by Sarah Cross
Journal Information: Carloviana: Journal of the Old Carlow Society, Vol. 1, Number 16, pp. 29-30
When Published: 1967
Publisher / Place of Publication: Old Carlow Society / Carlow, Co. Carlow
About: A short article on Rathgall Hillfort, which overlooks Rathwood. This substantial site runs to nearly 18 acres and is one of several hillforts in the West Wicklow area.
Extra #2: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.
Extra #3: Visit the Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society website.
Extra #4: Browse to the issue of Carloviana containing this article via the CHAS archives webpage
Hat-Tip: To the Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society who have arranged for the digitisation of back issues of Carloviana Journal and their free accessibility online.
West Wicklow Bookshelf 