Hut site

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated in a small hollow in the rolling commonage to ESE of the headland called ‘Budawanny’ on Ordnance Survey maps, at the extreme W end of the island. Although sheltered by higher ground to N and E, the site affords wide views SW towards Beetle Head. A ruined turf stack lies 2m to WSW on a low hummock. The site is described by Westropp (1911a, 19) as ‘evident remains of a hut of a primitive design’. It consists of a well-defined subcircular house (6.9m NE–SW, 5.8m NW–SE) that occupies the whole base of the hollow. It is defined by a dilapidated wall of small boulders (Wth 0.8m × H 0.4m) from SW through W, N and E to SE. The sector from SE to SW is poorly defined but appears to correspond with a straight line of boulders on a very slight break of slope or scarp. No definite trace of an entrance is visible. The interior, which is generally flat, is notably lower than the exterior by up to 0.4m. It was waterlogged at time of visit and is partially strewn with boulders and stones. A number of these in the south- eastern sector appear to form a small oval subdivision (2.2m E–W, 2.1m N–S). There is also another amorphous area of stones in the western sector.

The above description is derived from: New Survey of Clare Island. Volume 5: Archaeology. Edited by Paul Gosling, Conleth Manning and John Waddell. (Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. 2007). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated.

Date of upload: 29 November 2018

References

Westropp, T.J. 1911 Clare Island survey: history and archaeology. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 31, Section 1, Part 2, 1-78.

Gosling, P., Manning, C. and Waddell, J. (eds.) 2007 New Survey of Clare Island, Volume 5: Archaeology. Dublin, Royal Irish Academy.