Hut site, Annagh More, Co. Kerry
Co. Kerry |
Settlement Sites
On a south-west-facing slope above the valley of the Flesk River in County Kerry, a small rectangular structure sits half-swallowed by heather and collapsed stone.
It is not a grand ruin; it measures just over six metres along its longest axis and barely more than three across, its walls of stone and clay mortar now reduced to a low, irregular ridge that rises about a metre at its best-preserved points. What makes it quietly interesting is precisely this modesty, a working shelter of some kind, anonymous in its purpose, sitting in rough hill pasture as though it simply forgot to disappear entirely.
The walls survive most clearly along the north-east and south-west arcs, while a gap in the south-east side likely marks where an entrance once stood. A roughly constructed secondary wall cutting across the north-east sector appears to be a later addition, suggesting the structure was reused or adapted at some point after its original construction, though no dates have been established for either phase. Fallen rubble is scattered both inside and outside the building, particularly towards the south-east and south-west corners. The use of clay mortar alongside stone is typical of vernacular building traditions in upland areas, where the material was practical and locally available, but it weathers poorly, which helps explain the degree of collapse. Whether this was a seasonal shelter for those working the high pasture, a small habitation, or something else entirely, the structure does not readily say.