Of the several prehistoric hill forts in County Galway, Aran Islands of Ireland, Dún Aonghasa is the most well-known. Situated near the brink of a 100-meter-tall cliff, it is Inis Mór. Dún Aonghasa is a well-known tourist destination and a significant archaeological site. According to excavations at the site, the first enclosure was formed in 1100 BC when massive upright stones were stacked on top of rubble. The triple wall fortifications were most likely built along the western side of the fort circa 500 BC. Its name, Fort of Aonghas, may allude to the mythical ruler Aonghus mac Úmhór or to the pre-Christian god of the same name mentioned in Irish mythology. For this reason, it has historically been connected to the Fir Bolg. The fort was constructed on a steep cliff around 100 meters above sea level and is made up of four concentric walls made of dry stone. Sea levels were far lower when it was built, and according to a recent Radio Telefis Eireann broadcast, it was previously situated 1000 meters above sea level. At certain places, the remaining stonework is four meters broad. Its original shape was either round or D-shaped, but the fort and cliff have subsequently collapsed into the sea, exposing sections of their structure. A defensive system of stone slabs, called a cheval de frise, is located outside the third ring of walls. It is still mainly intact and is positioned in an upright position in the ground. There is also a massive rectangular stone slab in these ruins; its purpose is uncertain. The outermost wall of Dún Aonghasa is impressively huge among prehistoric ruins, enclosing an area of about 6 hectares
[Information and Image Credit : Dún_Aonghasa, Wikipedia]
[Wikipedia-Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%BAn_Aonghasa ]
[Image : Cheval de Frise on the West Side of Dún Aonghasa; Wikipedia-Image Author : Tuoermin]
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[Wikipedia-Image-Source-Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dun_Aonghasa-cheval_de_frise.jpg ] #History
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