County: Kerry Site name: CLOCHÁN NA MBÓ
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Isabel Bennett
Site type: Booley hut
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 432686m, N 596957m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.099194, -10.442227
This R.I.A. sponsored, O.P.W. funded excavation took place over a 3-week period in June. The site, a small Clochán ('beehive hut') situated near the western tip of the Dingle Peninsula, on the southern slopes of Mt Eagle between 200ft (66m) and 300ft (98m) O.D. in rough, mountain terrain, was fully excavated. An area 4m by 5m outside the entrance to the hut was also investigated. The site has been considered an antiquity since at least 1840 when it was marked as such on the 1st edition of the O.S. 6" Sheet (52) for the area.
The upper fill of the interior of the hut was composed of stones collapsed from the roof. A small portion of this is still in place as the hut is partially built into the hillside. Removal of these revealed only further stones, part of the subsoil, with some larger outcrops which were surrounded by a sterile, turf-like formation. The finds from this area were all of relatively recent date.
An external area was also investigated, in the hope of uncovering a hearth feature; in this it was unsuccessful. The area was again full of stones, some of which may have been from the collapse of a 'forecourt' noted at the site by Macalister at the end of the last century.
As the entrance to the site is very narrow, it is unlikely to have been built solely for use as an animal shelter (it would have been very difficult for them to gain access). The interpretation, therefore, is that the site was used as a booly hut, but probably only for shelter during the day, with the herdsman returning to his permanent home at night time.
Glen Fahan, Ventry, Tralee, Co. Kerry
