Dún Aonghasa

Dún Aonghasa is the most famous of several prehistoric hill forts on the Aran Islands of County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It lies on Inishmore, at the edge of a 100 metre high cliff.A popular tourist attraction, Dún Aonghasa is an important archaeological site that also offers a spectacular view.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. T. F. O'Rahilly surmised in what is known O'Rahilly's historical model that it was built in the second century BC by the Builg following the Laginian conquest of Connacht. Excavations at the site indicate that the first construction goes back to 1100 BC, when the first enclosure was erected by piling rubble against large upright stones. Around 500 BC, the triple wall defences were probably built along the western side of the fort.The 19th-century artist George Petrie called Dún Aonghasa "the most magnificent barbaric monument 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. It has thus traditionally been associated with the Fir Bolg.