Turlough Hill (Clare)

The Turlough Hill ( Irish Cnoc an Turlaigh ) is east of Ballyvaughan in the northern part of the Burren in County Clare , Ireland , near the border with County Galway and is 285 m high. On the summit plateau is a unique archaeological complex, consisting of a Bronze Age cairn , an Iron Age hill fort and a large number of remains of beehive huts .

Summit plateau with burial mound

The burial mound

At the western end of the summit terrace is a larger than average cairn with a diameter of 15 m and a height of 4.5 m, similar to the “Carn Bodhar” on Slievecarron . These types of tumuli contain stone boxes with relatively worthless additions. Nevertheless, the cairn on Turlough Hill was looted.

The Hillfort

The Hillfort is on the east summit of the Turlough. The polygonal enclosure, bordered by poorly executed dry stone masonry or removed for the property boundary walls, has a diameter of about 225 m.

The beehive huts

Over 150 clearly recognizable round hut bases identified in aerial photographs are located on the summit terrace between the Cairn and the Hillfort, which mark the two peaks of the hill. One theory sees the summit as a ritual area that was visited sporadically during the year. Without an excavation, any chronology is speculative.

Finds

Finds from Turlough Hill are sparse. The polished stone ax discovered while digging a well in the valley is on display at the Burren Center in Kilfenora . Its outline is in the form of a triangle with a convex cutting edge that has been worn away from use.

literature

• George Cunningham: Burren Jorney North . Ballyvaughan 1992.

Web links

• Plan 4 = Turlogh Hill

Coordinates: 53 ° 6 ′ 29 ″  N , 9 ° 2 ′ 20 ″  W.