Hillfort, Garrangrena, Co. Tipperary

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Hillfort, Garrangrena, Co. Tipperary

Perched atop a heather-clad hill in County Tipperary, the Garrangrena hillfort commands sweeping views over Moanamaddra Lough to the east and the Fishmoyne River winding through the valleys below.

This ancient fortification, spanning roughly 145 metres from north to south, follows the natural contours of the domed summit rather than attempting to flatten it. The builders worked with the landscape, creating a defensive structure that covers about 2.1 hectares in total.

The hillfort's defences consist of a sophisticated system of earthworks: two ditches, or fosses, with an earth and stone bank sandwiched between them. The inner fosse measures about a metre wide and 0.2 metres deep, whilst the outer one varies between one and three metres in width with a depth of 0.3 metres. The central bank, constructed from earth and stone, stands about a metre high and spans two metres in width. A single entrance, marked by a three-metre gap in these defensive features, appears to have been positioned on the western side.

Today, a modern field fence cuts through the site from north to south, but the ancient ramparts remain remarkably well preserved beneath their blanket of bog and heather. A ringfort sits nearby to the east, suggesting this hilltop held strategic importance for centuries. First identified on second edition Ordnance Survey maps, the site has since been catalogued in the Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland, joining thousands of similar Iron Age monuments that dot the landscapes of these islands.

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