What is recorded here

Twenty-one metres of ancient stone circle Lios Na Caolbhuí at the foot of the Brandon mountains, holding three hut foundations and a hidden passage that still breathes beneath the grass. The western wall has surrendered to pasture, but the eastern face stands proud enough to show where the entrance gap once stood before a later field wall blocked it. Inside, the largest hut presses against the boundary as if born from it, while the underground passage disappears into darkness beyond the visible drystone section. People may have lived here, hidden here, or simply passed through the lintelled gap into the mountain air.

Internal diam. 21.2m This circular cashel, enclosing 3 hut-sites and a Man-made underground passage, is situated on fairly level pastureland at the base of the Brandon mountain range, overlooking Brandon Bay to E. The W section of the enclosing wall survives only as a grass-covered bank, .5m high. Around the E perimeter it is better preserved. The outer face can be traced continuously in this section except for a 4.5m wide gap at E where the entrance was probably located. This is now blocked by the field wall which runs along the top of the cashel wall in the NE quadrant. The outer face of the field wall is flush with that of the cashel, but the two are distinguished by differing masonry styles. The total height is 1.2m, but the lower .85m incorporates significantly larger stones than those used in the later rebuilding. The inner face of the field wall is set .85 to 1m back from the inner face of the cashel which is generally represented by only a single course and which is completely obscured by collapse in the SE quadrant. The earlier wall is 1.75m wide. At NNE a lintelled passage leads through the wall at ground level. It is .32m high x .67m wide and the inner end is unroofed. To S the enclosing bank and wall merge with an irregularly-shaped mound up to 1m in height. This appears to be composed chiefly of stone and there are traces of walling along its E edge. According to the depiction on the OS map, a field wall followed the outer edge of the enclosure in the W sector and the mound may simply be a clearance cairn resulting from the removal of this wall. The remains of 3 huts can be traced in the interior. (1) The foundations of a large circular stone hut abut the enclosure wall at NW. It is 5.9m in internal diameter and the wall is up to .6m high and approximately 1.75m wide; the outer face is completely obscured by collapse. The entrance faces SSE and is marked by a 1.2m wide gap in the inner face of the wall. The sub-rectangular space between this hut and the enclosing bank to W has been faced to N and E with drystone masonry up to .5m high. The function of this is not known. (2) Immediately E of centre are the very ruined remains of a 2nd hut which may have been conjoined with the first. It consists of a horseshoe-shaped depression, 2.9m x 3.35m, surrounded by grass-covered stone collapse; it is open to SE. (3) The foundations of an oval or sub-rectangular hut abut the enclosure bank at SSW. This measures 3.75m x 2.27m internally and is enclosed by a stony bank up to .2m high. A gap at the E end probably represents the entrance. The Man-made underground passage is now inaccessible but section of the drystone-built passage can be seen on the N side of a depression caused by the collapse or removal of 1 or 2 roofing slabs. The passage is .9m wide and at least .6m high. It appears to run in the direction of the lintelled passage through the cashel wall but the relationship between the 2 is unclear. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 586. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 7 August 2013

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