Hut site, Kealduff, Co. Kerry

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Settlement Sites

Hut site, Kealduff, Co. Kerry

In the uplands of Kealduff in south-west Kerry, the remains of at least three ancient huts sit quietly in the landscape, the kind of site that registers as little more than a grassy irregularity to anyone passing without knowing what to look for.

Hut sites of this type are among the most unassuming survivals in the Irish archaeological record, low stone foundations or earthen scoops that once formed the walls and floors of small circular or sub-rectangular shelters, used variously for habitation, seasonal farming activity, or as part of wider settlement clusters spread across the hillsides.

The Kealduff grouping is recorded in the archaeological inventory of south-west Kerry compiled by Aidan O'Sullivan and John Sheehan, published in 1996, which catalogues the remarkable density of early remains across the Iveragh Peninsula and its surroundings. Their entry notes three huts at this location, with the second structure singled out for specific description, suggesting some distinguishing feature of its construction or preservation. Beyond that, the record is spare. What it does confirm is that Kealduff belongs to a broader pattern across Kerry, where clusters of hut sites, field systems, and enclosures point to a landscape that was far more intensively settled in the early medieval period, and possibly earlier, than the bare hills today might suggest.

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