Hut site, Aughils, Co. Kerry

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Settlement Sites

Hut site, Aughils, Co. Kerry

Out in the rough bogland of Aughils in County Kerry, a low circular wall sits roughly sixty metres east of a mountain stream.

It is easy to miss, and easier still to dismiss as a random arrangement of stone. But the structure, just two and a half metres across and less than a metre high, is a drystone hut site, and it does not stand alone. At least five other comparable remains have been identified in the same area, forming what appears to be a small cluster of ancient dwellings on this exposed upland ground.

Drystone construction, meaning walls built from stacked uncut stone without mortar, is one of the oldest and most widespread building techniques in Ireland, used across many centuries and in many contexts. What survives at Aughils is modest by any measure: a circular footprint with walls standing to around 0.85 metres, the kind of remnant that speaks more to function than comfort. Structures of this type are generally associated with seasonal or temporary occupation, possibly connected to transhumance, the practice of moving livestock to higher pastures in summer, though the specific history of this particular group of sites remains undocumented. What makes the Aughils complex quietly significant is the number of these remains gathered in one place, suggesting that whatever activity drew people here, it was not entirely solitary or incidental.

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Pete F
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