What is recorded here

Booley hut in Bunnamohaun is one of eight stone shelters clustered around a small basin on the lower slopes of Knockmore, where a stream still runs and people traditionally grazed cattle through summer. This particular hut faces its neighbour across four and a half metres of grass, large enough for one person to sit, breathe and watch the water move. Its walls are low now, but the gap in the south-eastern side still marks the entrance, and the southern corner holds a scatter of angular stones that may have lined a hearth or simply fallen from the bank. To stand inside is to imagine heat, milk, rain and the smell of wet wool, not because those things are written down, but because the shape of the place makes them likely.

This is one of eight huts (MA084-004001- to MA084-004008-) ranged in a cluster around the N and NE sides of a small natural basin or fold, through which a stream flows, on the lower SW slopes of Knockmore. A notable feature of this cluster is that the huts tend to occur in pairs. The location is locally named ‘Prawke’, and, according to tradition, the huts were associated with booleying. This hut sits on the terrace 4.5m SE of another hut (MA084-004005-). It comprises the foundations of a small rectangular hut (NE–SW 3.6m, NW–SE 2.9m), in good condition. It is defined by a low grassy bank (Wth c. 1m, H 0.5m externally) through which a number of small stones protrude, particularly in the south-western half. Traces of a definite external battered stone facing are visible at the southern end of the south-western wall, comprising small angular stones up to three courses high (H 0.3m). Internally, there are also possible traces of a stone facing, comprising three stones in a line, at the south-western end of the north-western wall. In contrast to the above, the north-western part of the hut is defined by a shallow convex scarp (H 0.5m), probably the result of cutting into the slope to define a level area. A gap (Wth 1m) just off-centre in the south-eastern wall probably marks the original entrance: two other narrow gaps in north-western and south-western walls appear recent. The interior is relatively level, save for the southern corner, which is strewn with small, angular, partly grass-covered stones. 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

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.