Hut site, Erriff, Co. Leitrim
Co. Leitrim |
Settlement Sites
Sometimes the most telling thing about a place is what is no longer there.
On a plateau in Erriff, County Leitrim, a small rectangular lake sits in a hollow to the north-west, measuring roughly 55 metres east to west and 40 metres north to south. It is a quietly unusual landscape feature, but the real curiosity lies nearby, or rather in the absence of what should be nearby.
Somewhere around 100 metres east of a local sheepfold, there were once hut-site enclosures, the low earthwork remains of early settlement, typically circular or sub-rectangular banks that once defined the footprint of simple dwellings. These were recorded in the 1940s and appeared in historical monument records for the area. By the time the site was revisited and assessed more recently, no trace of those enclosures could be found. Whether they were lost to agricultural activity, peat growth, or simple erosion is not recorded. The plateau has quietly swallowed whatever was there.