Hut site, Killynan, Co. Westmeath

Co. Westmeath |

Settlement Sites

Hut site, Killynan, Co. Westmeath

Tucked inside the northeastern corner of an ancient ringfort in County Westmeath, a low bank of earth and stone traces the outline of a structure so modest it barely registers from ground level.

No entrance survives, or at least none that is clearly legible today, and the grass has long since pulled a soft cover over the whole thing. It is the kind of feature that rewards close attention and confounds casual glances.

The hut site sits on the inner edge of the scarp within a ringfort, one of those circular earthwork enclosures that dot the Irish countryside in their thousands, most dating from the early medieval period. What makes this particular example quietly interesting is its setting: a low, round-topped hillock rising out of gently undulating pasture that was once part of the deer park attached to Killynan House. The sub-rectangular shape of the hut is itself a detail worth pausing over, since most domestic structures associated with ringforts tend toward the circular. The outline of the building was captured in an oblique aerial photograph taken in 1970, catalogued as CUCAP BDV085, which suggests the feature was more legible from the air half a century ago than it may be today at ground level. Aerial photography of this kind, taken at low angles to exploit shadows cast by earthworks, has been one of the most reliable tools for identifying features that surface vegetation and centuries of weathering have otherwise obscured.

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Pete F
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