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Recent archaeological investigations at the Bronze Age site of Haughey’s Fort – next to the famous Navan Fort, an Iron Age monument in County Armagh, Northern Ireland (see CA 406) – have revealed new details about the complex, demonstrating that it was not only the site of significant settlement and production activity, but possibly served a ritual function as well.
Previous excavations at Haughey’s Fort had established that it was comprised of three broadly concentric enclosures covering approximately 9.29ha (23 acres), with radiocarbon dating establishing that initial occupation probably began around 1191-1018 BC. Meanwhile, an artificially constructed pool known as the King’s Stables, 300m (980ft) north-east of the hillfort, was thought to be broadly contemporary with it, while a series of parallel ditches to the east, known as the Creeveroe Earthworks, were thought to be of Iron Age date.
This most recent project, led by James O’Driscoll from the University of Glasgow and Patrick Gleeson from Queen’s University Belfast, carried out a series of investigations on the site, including high-resolution LiDAR, geophysical surveys, targeted excavations, and the reanalysis of key assemblages. This work found that the Creeveroe Earthworks extended to create a circle around the hillfort, rather than running in a straight, north–south line as was previously thought. They appear to represent a final enclosure around the hillfort, encompassing 109ha (270 acres), making the site the third largest known hillfort in Ireland or Britain.
Surrounding the edges of this newly discovered enclosure, the team found numerous small ring ditches, which may represent the remains of levelled barrows, suggesting that this was part of an important ritual landscape. In particular, a distinct cluster of these barrows lay on the southern side of the enclosure, associated with what appears to have been an entrance to the fortress.
Inside the hilltop enclosures, geophysical surveys revealed over 204 anomalies that are thought to represent the footprints of circular wooden structures. Measuring 7-9m (23-30ft) in diameter, they are consistent with other Bronze Age domestic buildings found throughout the island of Ireland. Three of the structures were significantly bigger than the rest and may represent ritual or institutional buildings. While their full chronology is uncertain, there appears to be some uniformity in their layout, suggesting that they may have been broadly contemporary.
Further details have been revealed about the King’s Stables. While this feature had already been linked with Haughey’s Fort, the recent work has confirmed that there was a palisade-lined avenue that ran for 87m (285ft) from the middle enclosure in the direction of the man-made pool. Additionally, new dating of material from the pool has established that the two sites were similar in date, supporting the idea that they were part of a unified monumental complex. The difference in faunal remains found between Haughey’s Fort and the King’s Stables suggests that they may have served different functions. While the fort yielded bones primarily from cattle, sheep/goat, and pig, the man-made pool mostly contained the bones of canines and red deer, as well as part of a human skull. This could indicate a possible ceremonial function, in contrast to the more domestic activity identified within the fort.
This work adds to a number of sites across the island of Ireland and northern Europe more broadly, including at Brusselstown Ring in County Wicklow (see CA 432), where emerging evidence indicates that the Bronze Age saw the introduction of proto-urban settlements that appear to have served as sites of power, controlling trade, production, and ritual. controlling trade, production, and ritual.
Text: Kathryn Krakowka / Photo: James O’Driscoll and Patrick Gleeson
