Beyond the Bronze Age: Iron Age and Early Medieval Activity at Irish hillforts

Although there is little definitive evidence for hillfort construction in Ireland beyond the Late Bronze Age, some sites were re-occupied during the Iron Age and Early Medieval period, with societies marking them as important contemporary centres. Others gained mythological connections to other-worldly figures rooted in the ‘heroic past’. This talk will consider the archaeological impact of the Irish evidence, as well as discussing the broader terminological issues that have obstructed meaningful comparisons between similar sites in Ireland and Britain. James O’Driscoll