Iron Age artefacts are thin on the ground in South West Ireland as they are generally in Ireland. Ring-forts, which are usually referred to as Iron Age structures could be Bronze Age or medieval. There hasn’t been enough research done into them to establish which era or eras they date from. Fewer than one per-cent of ring-forts have been excavated.

As we have seen, the south-west was a busy place during the Bronze Age yet there is nothing in the material record to indicate that the Iron Age ever arrived here.

The most visible Iron Age relics that do exist are the ring-forts that dot the landscape, at least they are attributed to the Iron Age. The other, less visible, structure is the promontory fort, so called because they were built on a sea promontory which required that only one wall needed to be built. The landscape did the rest.

If you would like to know more about the Iron Age on the Mizen: www.buythebook.ie/this-is-the-mizen/