Hut site, Bunbinnia, Co. Kerry

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Settlement Sites

Hut site, Bunbinnia, Co. Kerry

At the head of the Cummeenduff Glen in County Kerry, wedged between the Gearhameen river and a small tributary to its north, a low drystone structure sits in a landscape that sees relatively few visitors.

What makes it worth attention is the quiet care of its construction: the walls, built without mortar by fitting stones together through their own weight and balance, form a rectangular plan with rounded corners, a shape that suggests deliberate craftsmanship rather than improvised shelter. The entrance, facing east, is just forty centimetres wide, narrow enough to keep out wind and large animals alike.

The hut measures roughly four and a half metres by two and a quarter, with walls standing about half a metre high and nearly a metre thick. Those proportions, walls nearly as thick as they are tall, are typical of upland drystone construction in the west of Ireland, where mass and interlocking stonework substitute for the binding mortar used in lowland buildings. Two additional structures complete the small complex: a circular animal shelter built directly against the southern wall of the hut, and a second rectangular shelter positioned to the west. The grouping points to a site used for transhumance, the seasonal practice of moving livestock to higher pastures in summer, known in Irish tradition as booley farming. The human occupant and their animals would have shared the same general space, each with their own enclosure, through the grazing months.

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Pete F
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