Hut site, Eanty More, Co. Clare
Co. Clare |
Settlement Sites
On a south-facing slope in a quiet valley running north-east to south-west in County Clare, a circular depression in the ground marks what was once a dwelling.
The hut site at Eanty More is roughly ten metres in diameter, and what makes it particularly interesting is the suggestion of a second, adjoining structure to the north, the two forming what may have been a small cluster of habitation on an otherwise unremarkable hillside. Neither structure is dramatically visible on the ground; both were identified through aerial and satellite imagery, the kind of slow, methodical work that turns landscape into archaeology without anyone lifting a spade.
What draws the eye beyond the huts themselves is the proximity of a fulacht fia, a type of site associated with prehistoric cooking or industrial activity, lying roughly 110 metres to the north-east at the head of the valley. A fulacht fia typically survives as a horseshoe-shaped mound of fire-cracked stone, the accumulated debris of a process in which water was heated by dropping hot stones into a trough. They are among the most common prehistoric monument types in Ireland, yet their exact purpose remains debated, with theories ranging from communal feasting to brewing to hide-working. The clustering of a fulacht fia with a nearby hut site is not unusual in the Irish prehistoric landscape, and it hints at a small community making deliberate use of this sheltered valley, choosing the south-facing slope for warmth and positioning their cooking or processing site at the higher, wetter ground nearby where water would have been easier to manage.
