Hut site, Inis Tuaisceart, Co. Kerry
Co. Kerry |
Settlement Sites
On the northernmost of the Blasket Islands, a circular stone hut sits within an ancient field system on a wind-scoured rock barely 241 acres in extent.
The northern half of the island, Inis Tuaisceart, carries no trace of human settlement at all; whatever impulse drove people here, it confined itself to the southern end, where thin soil over bare rock was apparently enough to sustain a small community and, eventually, an Early Christian foundation dedicated to St. Brendan.
The hut itself is modest in scale, roughly 4.7 metres across internally, its wall now reduced to a combination of drystone masonry standing no higher than about 55 centimetres, interspersed with upright slabs and two large prostrate stones, one nearly three metres long and the other just under. Drystone construction of this kind uses no mortar; stones are fitted against one another by hand, relying on weight and careful placement for stability, a technique common throughout the early medieval period in the west of Ireland. An old field boundary running to the south of the structure may once have enclosed a forecourt or yard, suggesting the hut formed part of a small organised compound rather than standing in isolation. The island lies four miles off the western tip of the Dingle Peninsula and two and a half miles north of the Great Blasket, ringed entirely by sea-cliffs, with the land climbing from around 30 metres on the south-eastern side to a maximum of 175 metres near the middle of the island's north-western flank. J. Cuppage documented the site in the 1986 Dingle Peninsula Archaeological Survey, which remains a key reference for the dense concentration of early monuments across Corca Dhuibhne.
Access to Inis Tuaisceart is genuinely difficult. The island is uninhabited and the surrounding cliffs leave few landing points; any visit depends on calm sea conditions and a local boat operator willing to attempt it. The Early Christian enclosure, including this hut, lies within the field system on the south side of the island, which is also where the land is at its most approachable, though rocky ground and thin, uneven soil make for slow going underfoot.