Hut site

The National Monuments Service's description

Rectangular hut site built into the SW-facing slope of Knockeenatoung (601m). Hut site (TS080-020----) 430m to N. Depicted as a building on the 1st ed. OSi 6-inch map Listed as Coolagarranroe 1 (Costello 2016, 98; Costello 2016, 311) and described as a rectangular-hut site (ext. dims. 7m x 4.25m; int. dims. 1.8m x 2.9m) aligned E-W. The E end wall is effectively a revetment against the slope as a result. There appears to be an entrance in the S wall of the building. There is a clear internal dividing wall, which creates two rooms, the eastern (dims. 3.2m x 2.95m) being the larger (W room dims. 1.8m x 2.9m). The floor level of the latter is higher (as one would expect given its position higher up the slope). It is not possible to say whether the internal division interlocks with the N wall, due to the extensive heather and moss growth along with some earth, which appears to form part of the building material. The stonework is most obvious in the S wall of the E room, where coursing of small to medium-sized blocks is evident. There is much stone collapse in and around the building. Flanking the building on the N and S are two substantial earthen banks which presumably were formed by up-cast during the cutting-out of a space for the building. They probably also acted as wind-breaks. There are some unclear stony features outside the W end of the building which may be the remains of a lean-to outbuilding.

See attached photographs courtesy of Dr. Eugene Costello

Compiled by: Dr Eugene Costello

Date of upload: 26 August 2020

References

Costello, E. 2016 Upland transhumance practices in Ireland, and their role in post-medieval settlement and society, c.1550-1900 AD. Unpublished doctoral thesis, NUI Galway.

Costello, E. 2016 Seasonal settlement and the interpretation of upland archaeology in the Galtee Mountains, Ireland. Landscape History 37(1), 87-98.