Hut site, Na Gleannta Thuaidh, Co. Kerry
Co. Kerry |
Settlement Sites
On the western flank of Ballysitteragh mountain in County Kerry, a small circular structure sits on a steep south-facing slope, built entirely without mortar and still largely intact.
It is a corbelled drystone hut, meaning its walls were constructed by laying stones in gradually overlapping courses until they closed at the top, a technique that requires no binding material and, when done well, can endure for centuries. This one measures roughly 3.25 metres across, stands 1.8 metres high, and has walls between one and one and a half metres thick, dimensions that suggest a compact but genuinely habitable space, sheltered from the wind and passively warmed by its southerly aspect.
The hut does not stand alone. Several other drystone structures occupy the immediate vicinity, and these were most likely animal pens and shelters rather than dwellings, pointing to a site that functioned as a seasonal upland settlement, the kind of place where people and livestock would have moved during the summer grazing months. This practice, known in Irish tradition as booleying, left traces across the higher ground of the Dingle Peninsula, and the cluster on Ballysitteragh fits that pattern. The site appears in J. Cuppage's 1986 archaeological survey of the Corca Dhuibhne region, a detailed study of the Dingle Peninsula that catalogued a remarkable concentration of early structures across this part of west Kerry.