Hut site, Gortlahard, Co. Kerry

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Settlement Sites

Hut site, Gortlahard, Co. Kerry

On a north-west-facing slope above the valley of the Sheen River in south-west Kerry, a low ring of grass-covered stone barely announces itself in the rough hill pasture.

What makes this small structure quietly interesting is the care taken to make it habitable on awkward ground: the south-east portion of the interior has been cut into the hillside, while the north-west side sits on a raised platform, the two adjustments together producing a level floor on a slope that would otherwise have made the space unusable.

The remains measure roughly five metres north to south and four metres east to west, defined by a drystone wall, that is, a wall built without mortar, relying on the careful fitting of stone against stone, now reduced to about thirty centimetres in height and sixty centimetres thick. The level interior is scattered with loose stones. Hut sites of this broadly circular form are found across upland Kerry and are generally associated with seasonal or temporary occupation, most likely connected to the old practice of transhumance, moving livestock to higher pastures in summer, though without excavation it is impossible to assign a firm date or function to any individual example. What this one preserves particularly well is the evidence of practical thinking: someone assessed the slope, decided exactly how much to cut and how much to build up, and produced a flat living space from unpromising terrain.

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Pete F
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