Description : Rathcoran is a passage grave and hillfort and National Monument located atop Baltinglass Hill, County Wicklow, Ireland. The passage grave is thought to be contemporaneous with Newgrange, i.e. it was built 3500–3000 BC, during the Neolithic. The site was excavated in 1934–36 by P. T. Walshe, revealing evidence of the cremations of at least 3 adults and a child. Fragments of quartz unearthed during the excavation suggest that it was used for decoration. Carbonised hazelnuts, wheat grains and a saddle quern point to the extent of local climate change: in Neolithic Ireland, the climate was drier and warmer, County Wicklow's glens were densely wooded, and farmers could grow crops at altitudes above 300 m (980 ft). Five hillforts surround Baltinglass. Rathcoran, atop Baltinglass Hill is dated to 1000 BC or slightly earlier: during the Bronze Age. The name is from the Irish Ráth Cuaráin ("Cuarán's ringfort"), but this name is doubtful: the original name could be Ráth Charnáin, "ringfort of the cairn."
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