Hut site, Ballyglass Middle, Co. Mayo

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Settlement Sites

Hut site, Ballyglass Middle, Co. Mayo

In a field in Ballyglass Middle, County Mayo, the ground betrays itself in a quiet way: two shallow, conjoined hollows arranged on a north-south line, each encircled by a low earthen rim, together forming a shape that survives in the landscape like the impression left by something long since gone.

The overall configuration, roughly figure-of-eight, spans only a few metres, and at first glance might register as little more than a dip in uneven ground. That it may once have been a dwelling place is suggested by context as much as by form.

The hollows sit towards the north-western edge of what appears to have been a rath, a type of enclosed farmstead typically dating to early medieval Ireland, usually defined by a circular earthen bank and ditch and associated with a single farming family or household. This particular rath has been partly levelled over time, and its original extent can only be approximated now. The northern hollow, which is the better preserved of the two, measures roughly five metres in overall diameter with an interior of around three metres across and a depth of approximately 0.3 metres. Its southern counterpart is more ambiguous, its edges poorly defined and difficult to read with confidence. Both are ringed by a low bank or rim, roughly two metres wide and between 0.3 and 0.65 metres in height, though the northern hollow's interior is partly filled with loose field stones, making any thorough examination impossible without clearance work. Whether it functioned as a hut site directly associated with the rath, or whether its relationship to the enclosure is more incidental, remains an open question.

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