Hut site, Grousemount, Co. Kerry

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Settlement Sites

Hut site, Grousemount, Co. Kerry

On a gentle northward-facing slope near the Roughty River in the Kerry uplands, a small oval arrangement of dry-stone walling sits almost invisibly among the vegetation.

The structure is modest by any measure, roughly 2.5 metres east to west and 2 metres north to south, with wall remnants surviving to just two or three courses in height and no more than half a metre tall. Yet that compactness is part of what makes it worth attention. This was once a hut, a simple roofed shelter built without mortar, its large dry-stones laid by hand in a tradition stretching back across many centuries of Irish rural life.

The site came to light during pre-development survey work carried out by John Cronin and Associates ahead of a wind farm project at Grousemount, near Kilgarvan in south Kerry, on behalf of ESB Wind Development. It lies approximately 30 metres south of what became the main spine road for the wind farm, close to the point where that road approaches a crossing of the Roughty River. The walls, up to 0.8 metres wide, are built in the dry-stone technique, meaning stones are fitted together without any binding material, relying entirely on careful placement and weight for stability. The sub-circular plan, a rough oval rather than a strict rectangle, is typical of early vernacular shelters found across upland Ireland, though assigning a precise date to a site like this without excavation is difficult. It may represent seasonal use by those working the higher ground, a practice associated with the old transhumance custom of booley farming, in which cattle and their herders moved to upland pastures in summer.

Anyone approaching the site in summer should expect the low walls to be almost entirely hidden by encroaching vegetation. The feature is far more legible in winter or early spring, when the growth dies back and the stone courses become visible against the hillside.

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Pete F
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