Hut site, Letter, Co. Kerry

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Settlement Sites

Hut site, Letter, Co. Kerry

At 260 metres above sea level on the eastern slopes of Beenmore in County Kerry, a small cluster of ancient hut sites sits by the headwaters of the Behy River, enclosed on almost every side by the arc of hills known as the Glenbeigh Horseshoe.

The complex extends roughly 0.1 kilometres north to south across the townland of Letter West, and one of its most legible structures is a poorly preserved but still readable building: roughly rectangular, tapering from 3 metres wide at its western end to a rounded eastern end just 2 metres across, and running about 6 metres in total length. A section of collapsed drystone wall survives to the north, though no entrance can be made out in what remains. It is the kind of place that rewards careful looking rather than a quick scan.

The setting makes the location feel deliberate. The Glenbeigh Horseshoe, a circuit of summits running from Seefin to Drung Hill, wraps around the hut complex on all sides except the north-east, where the ground opens out across boggy pasture towards Glenbeigh. A partial line of sight towards Dingle Bay exists through the gap between Drung Hill and Drom West, though the foothills of Drung Hill cut off any actual view of the water. The huts are not isolated curiosities; other hut sites at Kealduff Upper lie 700 metres to the south-east, further examples on the slopes of Drung Hill are 900 metres to the north-east, and the main concentration of rock art in Letter West is located to the south-east and east. Whatever community or activity these structures represent, it was spread across a considerable stretch of this upland landscape, not confined to a single point.

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Pete F
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