Hut site, Oldcourt, Co. Wicklow

Co. Wicklow |

Settlement Sites

Hut site, Oldcourt, Co. Wicklow

On the north-facing slope of Woodend Hill in County Wicklow, a small rectangular structure sits in rough pasture with no visible entrance.

That detail alone gives it a quietly puzzling character. Whatever doorway once allowed people in and out has either collapsed beyond recognition or was never built in the conventional sense, leaving a roofless stone outline that offers no obvious way to read how it was used.

The structure measures roughly 4.5 metres by 3.5 metres, defined by a low wall of roughly faced stone between 1.2 and 1.4 metres wide. Walls of that thickness relative to the interior space suggest something more substantial than a simple field boundary, and the term hut site is used in Irish archaeology to describe the remains of a small dwelling or working shelter, often associated with seasonal or agricultural activity. What makes this example particularly interesting is that it abuts directly onto the western wall of a separate enclosure nearby, implying the two features were part of the same complex or at least grew up in relation to one another. Whether the hut came first and the enclosure was added later, or the reverse, is not recorded, but the physical connection between the two suggests they were not built in isolation from each other.

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Pete F
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