Evidence points to a water cistern in a boat-shaped topographical feature, aligning with Iron and Bronze Age cisterns found elsewhere in Europe.

The site features a necklace of up to 13 hilltop forts, seven major hillforts, and associated enclosures dating from the early Neolithic to the late Bronze Age (about 3700–800 BC).

The research received the Prehistoric Society’s James Dyer Prize for 2025 and is published by Cambridge University Press, with funding from UKRI, NERC, and the Prehistoric Society.

Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast re-evaluated Brusselstown Ring by combining existing data from terrestrial surveys (288 hut-site candidates) and aerial surveys (over 600 topographical anomalies) with new excavations, identifying 98 potential roundhouse footprints within the inner enclosure and perhaps 509 more between the inner and outer enclosures.

The project also reassesses the occupation history and settlement structure of Brusselstown Ring, building on prior data to deepen understanding of prehistoric life there.

Terrestrial surveys detected 288 hut-site candidates, while aerial surveys uncovered more than 600 anomalies consistent with prehistoric house platforms.

Dr. Dirk Brandherm emphasizes that the findings challenge existing ideas about how prehistoric settlements were organized, pointing to greater social complexity and regional significance.

Even if not all anomalies are true roundhouses, Brusselstown Ring remains the largest nucleated prehistoric settlement in Ireland and Britain by a wide margin.

A hillfort complex near Baltinglass, County Wicklow, is identified as the largest nucleated settlement in prehistoric Ireland and Britain and may represent Ireland’s earliest proto-town.

Brandherm argues that, regardless of whether all anomalies are roundhouses, Brusselstown Ring would still stand as the largest nucleated prehistoric settlement in Ireland and Britain, with few other sites matching its footprint and not all enclosed.

Fieldwork is ongoing, and researchers stress the site’s national and international heritage importance, highlighting its role in understanding social complexity and regional patterns in prehistoric settlement.

Ongoing BrusselsTown Ring excavations underscore its major heritage significance and shed light on community cohesion and regional organization in prehistory.