Hut site, An Gabhlán Ard, Co. Kerry
Co. Kerry |
Settlement Sites
On a gentle south-facing slope above the Lispole valley in County Kerry, the ground holds the faint circular outlines of what were once small dwelling places.
Between four and five hut foundations survive at An Gabhlán Ard, their internal diameters ranging from roughly 2.5 to 4.5 metres, which gives a sense of just how compact these structures were. Circular stone huts of this kind are a common enough feature of the Dingle Peninsula landscape, often associated with early medieval settlement, though pinning down precise dates without excavation is rarely straightforward.
The site was recorded as part of the Corca Dhuibhne archaeological survey, published in 1986 under the authorship of J. Cuppage. That survey remains one of the more thorough regional studies of the Dingle Peninsula, cataloguing the extraordinary density of prehistoric and early historic monuments that survive across this corner of west Kerry. The clustering of several hut foundations together at An Gabhlán Ard suggests a small settlement rather than an isolated structure, though the slight slope they occupy would have offered modest shelter and an outlook southward across the valley below.