Hut site, Coolcoulaghta, Co. Cork

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Settlement Sites

Hut site, Coolcoulaghta, Co. Cork

On the eastern slope of Mount Corin in County Cork, just below the summit, a small circular structure sits in a hollow almost entirely swallowed by fern and rubble.

Its diameter is a modest 4.7 metres, its drystone walls collapsed to no more than 40 centimetres in places, and the only clear indication of how someone once entered is a pair of parallel stone slabs set 70 centimetres apart at the south-east. It is the kind of place that rewards patience and a careful eye, because the vegetation has done its best to erase it.

Drystone hut sites of this kind are found across upland Ireland and generally date from the early medieval period, though some may be considerably older or younger depending on land use. They were typically small shelters associated with transhumance, the seasonal movement of livestock to higher pastures in summer, a practice that left clusters of modest stone structures scattered across hillsides throughout Munster and beyond. What makes this particular site quietly interesting is that it does not stand alone. Another hut site lies just two metres to the north, and a third is roughly 20 metres to the west, suggesting this was once a small working complex rather than a solitary outpost. Three structures in close proximity point to something organised, possibly a seasonal settlement where a small group managed cattle on the upper slopes of Mount Corin over successive summers, generations, or both.

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Pete F
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