Hut site, Youngfield, Co. Cork

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Settlement Sites

Hut site, Youngfield, Co. Cork

On a rocky spur above a steep south-facing valley near Baurearagh Mountain in County Cork, there sits a small circular structure that is easy to miss entirely.

Its interior measures barely 1.7 metres east to west and 1.8 metres north to south, making it roughly the size of a large wardrobe when laid flat. The walls, built from local field stones, survive to around 0.6 metres in height, and a narrow entrance on the eastern side, just half a metre wide and framed by two upright slabs set radially, gives the whole thing a quietly purposeful character. Whatever its age, this was not a casual arrangement of rocks.

Small circular hut sites of this kind are found across upland Ireland, often associated with seasonal or pastoral activity, the kind of temporary shelter used by those moving livestock to higher ground in summer, a practice known in Irish tradition as booleying. The location fits that pattern well. The surrounding land is rough grazing scattered with boulders, and a tributary of the Kerry River runs through the area before eventually feeding into the Glengarriff river system to the south. The site was recorded by the archaeologist Tony Miller in June 2012, who noted that despite its modest scale it occupies a position with exceptional views down into the valley below, the sort of placement that suggests whoever built it chose the spot with some care, whether for watching over animals, for shelter from the prevailing weather, or simply because the spur offered firm, dry ground above the boggy valley floor.

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Pete F
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