Hut site, Corr Áille, Co. Kerry

Co. Kerry |

Settlement Sites

Hut site, Corr Áille, Co. Kerry

On the steep north-eastern slopes of Reenconnell, on the Dingle Peninsula, a cluster of early stone structures clings to the hillside beside the old Saint's Road, the ancient pilgrimage route that winds up to the summit of Brandon Mountain.

Among them are two small hut sites, known as clocháns, the corbelled dry-stone beehive huts characteristic of early Christian Ireland, positioned just outside a roughly oval stone-walled enclosure. What makes this grouping quietly remarkable is how thoroughly the builders made use of what was already there: the clocháns share the enclosure wall itself as part of their own structure, suggesting a community of builders working in close, pragmatic relationship with an already established sacred or monastic site.

The enclosure contains a second clochán, two leachts (low stone platforms associated with prayer or commemoration), a cross-slab, and some graves, the last of which point to later use as a calluragh burial ground, a type of informal cemetery often used for unbaptised infants or others excluded from consecrated ground. One of the clocháns outside the enclosure contains a souterrain, an underground stone-lined passage that may have served for storage or concealment. To accommodate the two exterior huts, someone made a rough attempt to cut a terrace into the slope, and the eastern edge of this levelled platform was faced with dry-stone masonry up to 0.7 metres high along a stretch of around eleven metres. The second hut has largely collapsed into low mounds of stone, though near its south-eastern entrance, which measures about 0.7 metres wide, the wall still survives to roughly 0.4 metres. Internally, the hut measured at least 3.3 metres across. These details were recorded and published by J. Cuppage in the 1986 Corca Dhuibhne archaeological survey of the Dingle Peninsula.

The site sits along the eastern side of the Saint's Road, so anyone walking the traditional pilgrim route toward Brandon Mountain's summit passes directly by it. The path itself is steep and the terrain uneven, and the stone remains blend readily into the surrounding landscape, making it easy to walk past without registering the full complexity of what is there: enclosure, huts, souterrain, burial ground, and the worn trace of a road that has carried pilgrims up this mountain for well over a thousand years.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Hut site, Corr Áille, Co. Kerry. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement