Hut site in Baile Na Habha (tc Cill Chuáin) — Report the wrong picture

What is recorded here

Fohernamanagh, the most inaccessible settlement on mainland Corca Dhuibhne, bears a name meaning hill of the monk and traditions credit St. Brendan with founding a monastery there before his legendary sea voyage. A roughly circular hut foundation, about two metres across internally, still lies upslope and south of the main settlement, while other huts scatter through the valley. Whether those stones belong to an ancient monastic cell or to the three or four families reputed to have lived there at the start of the 19th century remains unclear, but the remoteness itself gives the place its character: a valley hard enough to reach that only the patient, devoted or desperate would have stayed.

Fohernamanagh/Fothair na Manach: The ecclesiastical nature of this settlement (KE025-001001-) is only indirectly suggested by its name and by its traditional association with St. Brendan. He is said both to have founded a monastery here (O'Donoghue 1895, 327-8) and to have sojourned here for a while before embarking on his legendary sea voyage (An Seabhac 1939, 132). Its remote location (it is undoubtedly the most inaccessible settlement on mainland Corca Dhuibhne) also suggests a monastic settlement. However, despite its isolation and the difficulty of access, the valley is reputed to have been occupied at the beginning of the 19th century by 3 or 4 families (Power 1923, 75-6), and it is not clear to what extent the present form of the settlement is attributable to this recent occupation. Apart from the enclosure and associated structures, several other huts and unclassified structures occur scattered around the valley (see location map). (1) (KE025-001005-) The foundations of a roughly circular hut, c. 2m in diameter internally, lie some distance upslope and to S of the main settlement. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 826. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 8 August 2013

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