What is recorded here

Westropp called it a fort in 1912, but it is a small circular hut above a hidden stone passage. The ceiling dropped debris into the dark tunnel below, preserving limpet shells that date the occupation to roughly 930 AD. A person likely stood inside, watching the sea or listening to the wind, while the narrow tunnel breathed beneath their feet.

Though described by Westropp as a 'fort' (1912, 298), the present remains are those of a ruined hut and a stone-built Man-made underground passage. Located in pasture on the N edge of an escarpment, overlooking the peat-covered, N cliff-edge of Valencia Island, this hut, of roughly circular plan, has an internal diameter of 2.45m. The tops of some slabs are visible through the sod-cover, and one large upright dominates the wall at S. The entrance may have been at NNE and immediately outside it is a box-like structure, .9m x .6m, the function of which is uncertain. An opening to the Man-made underground passage is located in the N face of the revetted scarp, and gives access to a drystone passage which extends SW for a distance of 4.5m to a point beneath the hut. The passage measures .95m high and .95m wide and its walls corbel slightly towards the lintelled roof. Limpet shells and other debris, which apparently fell through from the floor of the hut into the passage below, yielded a radiocarbon date of 930±80 BP (Mitchell 1989, 41). The above description is derived from A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan (compilers), 'The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry'. Cork University Press (1996), no. 1208. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 31 July 2013

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