Rathcoran is a

passage grave A passage grave or passage tomb consists of one or more burial chambers covered in earth or stone and having a narrow access passage made of large stones. These structures usually date from the Neolithic Age and are found largely in Western Europ ...

and

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

and

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

located atop Baltinglass Hill,

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Location

Rathcoran is located atop Baltinglass Hill, east-northeast of

Baltinglass Baltinglass, historically known as Baltinglas (), is a town in south-west County Wicklow, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Slaney near the border with County Carlow and County Kildare, on the N81 road (Ireland), N81 road ...

, overlooking the

River Slaney The River Slaney (; ) is a large river in the southeast of Ireland. It rises on Lugnaquilla Mountain in the western Wicklow Mountains and flows west and then south through counties Wicklow, Carlow and Wexford for 117.5 km (73 mi), ...

History

The passage grave is thought to be contemporaneous with

Newgrange Newgrange () is a prehistoric monument in County Meath in Ireland, placed on a rise overlooking the River Boyne, west of the town of Drogheda. It is an exceptionally grand passage tomb built during the Neolithic Period, around 3100 BC, makin ...

, i.e. it was built 3500–3000 BC, during the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

. The site was excavated in 1934-1936 by P. T. Walshe, revealing evidence of the cremations of at least 3 adults and a child. Fragments of

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

unearthed during the excavation suggest that it was used for decoration. Carbonised

hazelnuts The hazelnut is the nut (fruit), fruit of the hazel, hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus ''Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or fil ...

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

grains and a

saddle quern A quern-stone is a stone tool for hand-grinding a wide variety of materials, especially for various types of grains. They are used in pairs. The lower stationary stone of early examples is called a ''saddle quern'', while the upper mobile st ...

point to the extent of local climate change: in Neolithic Ireland, the climate was drier and warmer, County Wicklow's glens were densely wooded, and farmers could grow crops at altitudes above . Five hillforts surround Baltinglass. Rathcoran, atop Baltinglass Hill is dated to 1000 BC or slightly earlier: during the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

. The name is from the Irish ''Ráth Cuaráin'' ("Cuarán's

ringfort Ringforts or ring forts are small circular fortification, fortified settlements built during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and early Middle Ages up to about the year 1000 AD. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are ...

"), but this name is doubtful: the original name could be ''Ráth Charnáin'', "ringfort of the

cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

Description

Passage grave

The passage tomb survives as a multi-period kerbed

with a diameter of , underneath which are five structures: *A kerb of large stones surround the cairn, and an inner kerb was revealed during excavation. Two stones of the inner kerb and one of the outer bear passage tomb art. *The main tomb is on the north side. It has a short passage, long, roofed with slabs and leading to a chamber in diameter which contains three shallow recesses and a stone basin with a smooth concave surface. *On the south side of the cairn is another tomb comprising a chamber divided into three compartments, but no passage, and two of its stones bear passage tomb art. *On the northwest side of the cairn are the remains of a small

corbelled In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a bearing weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applie ...

structure, partly overlain by the inner kerb. *A fifth chamber stands inside the kerb to the east of the main tomb. The finds from the site include the cremated bones of at least three adults and one child,

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

scrapers, Carrowkeel pottery and bone pins. Finds from beneath the cairn included a

stone axe Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a c ...

, a flint

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon. Today, the javelin is predominantly used for sporting purposes such as the javelin throw. The javelin is nearly always thrown by hand, unlike the sling ...

-head, scrapers, an egg-shaped stone, carbonised wheat grains and hazelnuts. A saddle quern was also found in the cairn.

Hillfort

The Rathcoran hillfort, a bivallate

, is at the top of Baltinglass Hill, and surrounds the cairn. Stones from the cairn were moved to make a protective wall. It has a double

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department ** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...

and perhaps was intended to have a third, which is incompleted. It encloses a roughly oval shape, around at its widest point.

References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures completed in the 11th century BC National monuments in County Wicklow Archaeological sites in County Wicklow Megalithic monuments in Ireland Tombs in the Republic of Ireland