What is recorded here

Ballynahown holds a circular stone hut on high rocky ground, large enough for several people yet small enough to feel like a hidden room. Westropp wrote about a nearly closed underground passage in the east wall, but that passage has vanished or been buried, leaving only the stubborn ring of blocks and a northern gateway. The missing tunnel suggests the hut was more than a shelter, perhaps a place for keeping secrets, storing treasure or escaping danger. Today the wall stands beside two cashels and a cairn, waiting for someone to imagine what disappeared beneath the earth.

On high ground in a rocky area with slightly higher ground to the NE and with great views from SW to NNW. Described by Westropp (1905, 349) as ‘a curious hut’ (int. dims 5.88m) which ‘consists of a circular wall of large blocks’, (T 0.94m) with a ‘gateway’ (Wth c. 1m) in the N face and ‘the nearly-closed mouth of a Man-made underground passage’ (CL004-065004-) in the E. A circular hut site (int. dims. 5.8m E-W; 5.3m N-S) defined by a stone wall (T 1.1-1.4m; ext. H 0.5m; int. H 1-1.6m) which is heavily overgrown with whitethorn. There is collapsed stone in the interior with clear space from E to S but no trace of the Man-made underground passage referred to by Westropp. A cashel (CL004-065002-) is located c. 50m to the N and another cashel (CL004-065003-) is located c. 65m to the NE. A cairn (CL004-059----) is located c. 96m to the WNW. Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Lynda McCormack Date of upload: 30 November 2022

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