2001:559 - 'WESTERN PAP', Derrynafinnia, Kerry

It was noted, in the course of research carried out by the writer, that damage had occurred to both of the cairns that crown the mountains known as the ‘Paps of Anu’, near Rathmore, Co. Kerry. The cairns had suffered considerable damage owing to the impact of human traffic on the mountaintops. The cairn on the western Pap has been interfered with, presumably by hill-walkers, in attempts to construct crude shelters in the side of the cairn. A rescue excavation was carried out, on behalf of Dúchas, to repair the damage to the cairn, and also to test a hut site, part of a complex of structures on the southern slopes of the Paps.

The shelter in the side of the cairn was photographed, drawn and dismantled. An area of burning was noted, although this appeared to be modern, probably the remains of a campfire. The stones from the shelter were reinstated in a suitable fashion into the body of the cairn. No archaeological feature was uncovered, although the deconstruction of the shelter appeared to show that the kerb of this cairn is fashioned from drystone walling.

A limited examination of two of the hut sites on the slope of the mountain was carried out, to try and establish a possible connection between the building of these structures and the cairns. An oval hut site, 4.9m east–west by 2.4m, constructed of stone and rising to a maximum height of 0.65m, was photographed, drawn, and then investigated by means of a 1m-wide trench across its interior. It was found that the interior was composed of stone collapse, which lay on a black layer of peat and occasional charcoal. This was interpreted as a floor layer. A stone disc-bead, a stone axe and a quantity of charcoal were recovered from this layer.

A second D-shaped hut site was also examined in this fashion. This hut measured 5m east–west by 2m. It was composed of collapse on top of a peaty layer. No artefacts or charcoal were recovered from this hut.

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