Hut site, An Coimín, Co. Kerry

Co. Kerry |

Settlement Sites

Hut site, An Coimín, Co. Kerry

On the Bull's Head promontory, a broad headland that pushes south-westward into Dingle Bay, at least fourteen ancient hut-sites are scattered along the flanks and summit of the central ridge.

What makes the cluster quietly remarkable is not any single structure but the sheer variety packed into a relatively small area: the huts range in plan from sub-rectangular through oval to circular, and their internal diameters run anywhere from two to six metres, suggesting either different periods of use or different functions within what may once have been a small settlement or seasonal encampment.

The structures themselves are built from drystone, a technique requiring no mortar, where carefully selected stones are stacked and balanced to hold one another in place. Many of the huts at An Coimín do not rely solely on quarried or gathered material; they incorporate sections of the bedrock that breaks through the surface, effectively using the landscape itself as part of the wall. Several of the structures are conjoined, sharing walls in a way that implies some degree of planning or at least incremental growth over time. The low remains of stony banks define others. The site was documented by J. Cuppage in the 1986 Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey, a volume published under the Irish title Corca Dhuibhne by Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne and covering the broader peninsula in considerable detail.

The Bull's Head headland is not a manicured heritage site with interpretation panels, and the huts themselves survive only as low, unassuming footprints in the ground. Anyone walking the ridge should look carefully at the terrain underfoot; the outlines of the structures can read as little more than slight variations in the pattern of stone and grass, easily overlooked by anyone not already expecting them to be there.

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