There is little evidence for past human activity on the summit of Blackstairs Mountain, with one notable exception. A hunting trap sitting within the open face of a peat bank that had been cut away was found by a hiker. The trap is about 2,300 years old and was created and used during the Iron Age. We know very little about this period in Irish history. However, more recently, details are being uncovered through excavations that tell us more of this time.
The device used a trap door feature to pin an animal’s leg in place, allowing hunters to chase down the animal with greater ease. It could also be used to catch smaller animals by trapping them around their necks.
This is the only sign of human activity at this place from that time, just a carved block of wood, sunk into a bog. Was it really just a trap for wild game left behind or did it mark an ancient boundary that would later become the dividing line of Wexford and Carlow? The trap’s position at the modern boundary forces us to consider more symbolic questions, like could this have been an offering to a god, or was it part of some mountain-top ritual?