Brusselstown Ring: Ireland's Largest Prehistoric Settlement Rewrites Bronze Age History
In late 2025 archaeologists revealed one of the most significant prehistoric discoveries ever made in Ireland: Brusselstown Ring — a colossal hillfort containing evidence of more than 600 prehistoric house platforms . This makes it the largest known nucleated prehistoric settlement in both Britain and Ireland. The Baltinglass Hillfort Capital of Ireland Brusselstown Ring belongs to the extraordinary Baltinglass hillfort cluster — sometimes called “Ireland’s prehistoric hillfort capital”. This impressive archaeological landscape comprises up to 13 major hilltop enclosures scattered across the southwestern slopes of the Wicklow Mountains. The area demonstrates almost continuous human activity and monument building from the Early Neolithic (≈3700 BCE) through the entire Bronze Age — a span of more than three thousand years. Exceptional Scale & Density What truly distinguishe...