
What is recorded here
Dr James O’Driscoll revealed a massive bivallate hillfort hidden beneath Corballis Hill when LiDAR cut through modern forestry. The inner circle spans nearly two hectares, while the outer boundary swallows forty-one hectares of upper slope. Ancient hands built broad banks to divide the hill, yet trees and time have erased most of the life that once moved inside them.
Discovered by Dr James O’Driscoll through the use LiDAR imagery. On the upper slopes of Corballis Hill (OD 853’), between Castledermot and Baltinglass. A very large, bivallate enclosure comprises an upper (above the 800’ contour), roughly circular area (est. diam. c. 190m) of c. 2.13ha, defined by a broad bank (Wth 7.3m). This is in turn enclosed by a much larger, irregularly shaped, outer enclosure defined by a slightly narrower bank (Wth 5.8m). The outer enclosing element broadly follows the contours of the hill (700’ and 600’ contours) and the total area enclosed is some 41.03ha.
The inner enclosure has been almost completely destroyed by modern forestry and no other features within the interior are currently identified. Similarly, the northern perimeter of the outer enclosure is under forestry, and over 60% of its perimeter on its southern side has seen significant disturbance from modern forestry. Likewise, much of the interior has been damaged and it is difficult to identify any possible internal features.
See attached images:
• KD038-081----_01 LiDAR imagery Corballis Hill (courtesy Dr James O'Driscoll).
• KD038-081----_02 LiDAR imagery Corballis Hill with inner and outer enclosures indicated (courtesy Dr James O'Driscoll).
Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy and Dr James O’Driscoll
Date of upload: 2 February 2023
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- What survives
- Recorded monument
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