Hillfort, Lurgan, Ballintra, Co. Donegal

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Hillfort, Lurgan, Ballintra, Co. Donegal

The limestone ridge at Lurgan commands extraordinary views across multiple counties, stretching from Donegal Bay and the Blue Stack mountains in the north to Nephin Mountain in Mayo to the west.

This impressive vantage point hosts what appears to be an ancient hillfort, though some archaeologists have suggested it might actually be a Neolithic enclosure. The site consists of a roughly oval area measuring 335 metres north to south and 190 metres east to west, defended on its western side by a substantial stone bank that curves smoothly along the ridge's contour. The eastern boundary needs no artificial defence; here, a steep limestone escarpment provides natural protection.

The enclosing wall itself is a formidable construction, measuring 10 to 12 metres wide and built from medium and large limestone rubble, now largely grass covered and slumped with age. Within this defensive perimeter, the landscape forms a central plateau about 75 metres wide, from which the ground slopes steeply towards the walls. The interior is far from empty; it contains several intriguing monuments including a cairn that's been incorporated into a circular enclosure at the highest point, another circular enclosure joined to what might be a prehistoric house, and various shallow hollows carved into the northwestern slopes whose purpose remains unknown.

The archaeological richness extends beyond the hillfort's walls. Just outside to the south, another circular enclosure abuts the exterior face of the main wall, with a possible hut site nearby. Further down the ridge, about 120 metres south, sits what might be another cairn, whilst 150 metres down the western slope stands a court tomb. These surrounding monuments, along with traces of old field boundaries within the fort and modern field walls that now subdivide parts of the interior, create a complex archaeological landscape that spans potentially thousands of years of human activity on this commanding ridge.

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Pete F
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