Booley hut

The National Monuments Service's description

Aalen (1963, 189) describes booley huts in the townland of Knocknadroose as particularly good examples comprising loose granite boulders in a variety of shapes and sizes (usually rectangular but sometimes round and oval). They appear to have been located in the area of forestry plantation to the N of 'Carricknagross graveyard' (WI016-014001-). A booley site recorded by Con Costelloe in this location (pers. comm. Barry Dalby) may be the same site as that recorded by Aalen. Several hut sites also visible at this location on Digital Globe aerial photograph taken July 2013. One of these hut sites is visible as a sub-rectangular shaped structure located 170m NW of Carricknagross graveyard (WI016-014----).
This appears to be the Booley hut described in 1949 by Liam Price (Corlett and Weaver 2002, 507) as following: 'the remains of a building. It was about 14yds long and about 7yds wide, narrowing at one end - roughly rectangular. Drystone walls, the original part about 2 or 3ft high, with mores stones built up on top to 5 or 6ft. There had been a cross-wall, but it was gone: it made a room at the wider end, 8 or 10ft broad. There was a doorway at the SE corner. E and SE of the house was a small double enclosure or haggard. This was called the 'Boolia House'.

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on information provided by Barry Dalby

Date of upload: 22 March 2017

References

Aalen, F.H.A. 1963 A note on transhumance in the Wicklow mountains. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 93, 189-90.

Corlett, C. and Weaver, M. (eds) 2002 The Price Notebooks. 2 vols. Dúchas the Heritage Service. Dublin.