DÚN AONGHASA

Dún Aonghasa is the most famous of several prehistoric hill forts on the Aran Islands. It is located on the island of Inis Mór and is a semi circular stone fort at the edge of a 300ft high cliff, which over looks the Atlantic with daunting and dramatic views that stretch the length of the Island.

It is not known exactly when Dún Aonghasa was built, though it is now thought that most of the structures date from the Bronze Age and Iron Age. Excavations carried out in the 1990’s indicated that people had been living at the hill top from c.1500 BC with the first walls and dwelling houses being erected c. 1100 BC.

A remarkable network of defensive stones known as a Chevaux de Frise (c.700bc) surrounds the whole structure. Dun Aonghasa is deemed to be one of the best examples of its kind in Europe.

Its name, meaning “Fort of Aonghas”, may refer to the pre-Christian god of the same name described in Irish mythology, or the mythical king, Aonghus mac Úmhór.