Clochan, Fán, Co. Kerry

Co. Kerry |

Settlement Sites

Clochan, Fán, Co. Kerry

On the lower southern slopes of Mount Eagle, on the Dingle Peninsula, there is very little left to see of what was once a remarkable cluster of dry-stone buildings.

What survives is a cairn of loose stones and a handful of low earthworks, but the geometry of it still speaks to something unusually complex for a site of this kind.

When the archaeologist R.A.S. Macalister visited in 1899, he recorded a multiple clochan, the term for a dry-stone corbelled hut of the kind associated with early medieval monastic and agricultural life in the west of Ireland, with four or five chambers arranged in a north-south line. That arrangement, several interconnected cells rather than a single standalone structure, was distinctive enough to warrant his attention. By the time the Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey was compiled by J. Cuppage in 1986, the complex had deteriorated considerably. What remained was a circular foundation roughly four metres in diameter at the southern end of the cairn, with an entrance facing east and a second opening to the north leading into a sub-rectangular enclosure measuring five by three and a half metres, defined by a grass-grown bank. A further arc of banking about two metres to the north of that enclosure may represent the ghost of a third structure, though its original form is no longer clear.

The site sits within a landscape on the Fán townland that was once densely occupied, and the multi-chambered arrangement Macalister described puts it among the more elaborate examples of clochan groupings known from the peninsula. What remains above ground is fragmentary, but the underlying plan, two confirmed structures and a probable third, gives a sense of a place that was once more than a solitary shelter.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Clochan, Fán, Co. Kerry. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement