Midden, Lios Na Caolbhuí, Co. Kerry

Co. Kerry |

Settlement Sites

Midden, Lios Na Caolbhuí, Co. Kerry

On the western shore of Brandon Bay, just north of Brandon quay, a small and largely inaccessible deposit sits embedded in a clifftop, visible but unreachable.

What can be seen from below is a scatter of shell and what appears to be associated charcoal, the modest physical trace of what may be a shell midden, the term for a prehistoric or early historic refuse heap composed primarily of discarded shellfish remains, animal bones, and domestic debris left behind by people who once ate, cooked, and sheltered nearby.

Shell middens of this kind are found in coastal areas across Ireland, and they are among the more quietly revealing types of archaeological deposit. The shell itself acts as a preservative, creating an alkaline environment that can protect organic material that would otherwise decay. At Lios Na Caolbhuí, the deposit was noted in the Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey compiled by J. Cuppage and published in 1986 as part of the Corca Dhuibhne survey. The presence of charcoal alongside the shell hints at hearth activity, suggesting this was not simply a place where shellfish were gathered but possibly one where they were processed or consumed. Whether the deposit is genuinely prehistoric or represents activity from a later period remains uncertain, and its position high in the cliff-face has so far made any closer examination impossible.

That inaccessibility is both the site's defining characteristic and its frustration. The shells are there, visible in the exposed section of cliff, but the deposit cannot be properly sampled or dated without more invasive investigation. It remains, for now, a question mark above a bay with a long history of human use, noted and recorded but not yet fully understood.

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