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 distinguishes Brusselstown Ring is its enormous size and internal complexity:

Two widely spaced concentric ramparts enclosing ≈41 hectares
Connection to a much larger contour fort (including Spinans Hill Neolithic enclosure) → total enclosed area ≈131 hectares
More than 600 circular platforms identified through LiDAR, aerial photography and photogrammetry

Platform distribution:

≈98 platforms inside the inner enclosure
More than 500 platforms in the space between the inner and outer ramparts

This degree of clustering is completely unprecedented in prehistoric Britain and Ireland.

From Scattered Farmsteads to Proto-Urban Settlement

For decades the prevailing image of Bronze Age Ireland was one of small, dispersed farmsteads — usually 1–5 roundhouses per site.

Brusselstown Ring completely overturns this picture. The presence of hundreds of dwellings within one deliberately enclosed hilltop space clearly indicates a nucleated, densely populated settlement of a scale previously unknown in the prehistoric archaeology of these islands.

Scientific Confirmation — 2024 Excavations

A team led by Dr Dirk Brandherm (Queen’s University Belfast) conducted four targeted excavations in 2024. Key findings:

Main occupation dated to Late Bronze Age ≈1210–780 BCE
Evidence of continued activity / reuse into Early Iron Age (≈400 BCE)
Typical finds: lithics, burnt clay fragments
No strong evidence of pronounced social hierarchy or major wealth differentiation

“Brusselstown Ring presents an intriguing case for understanding settlement dynamics in Ireland during the Bronze Age. This site — along with a small number of other nucleated hilltop settlements — appears to have emerged around 1200 BC. This pattern contrasts sharply with the more typical form of prehistoric Irish settlements.”

— Dr Cherie Edwards

First Documented Cistern in an Irish Hillfort?

Among the most exciting discoveries is a stone-lined feature interpreted as a possible water cistern. The structure is positioned to collect water from a natural spring/stream and is bounded by large kerbstones.

If confirmed, this would be the first known cistern in any Irish hillfort — although comparable features exist in Bronze Age / Iron Age sites in France and Spain.

Why This Discovery Matters

1. Proves large, densely populated settlements existed in Ireland almost 2000 years before Viking towns

2. Demonstrates greater social complexity and organizational capacity in Late Bronze Age

3. Aligns Ireland more closely with continental European hillfort/nucleated settlement patterns

4. Shows prehistoric communities could sustain major communal infrastructure

Future Research Directions

Planned work includes:

Detailed investigation of the possible cistern
More extensive house platform excavation
Construction sequence and dating of ramparts
Analysis of economic base and abandonment processes

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