What is recorded here

Eight huts cluster around a narrow stream basin on the lower slopes of Knockmore, pairing together rather than scattering alone. The smallest chamber measures barely four metres across, yet its grassy bank still holds the shape of a door, a hearth pit and a place for breathing. Tradition calls the spot Prawke and ties it to booleying, suggesting people came here temporarily to graze cattle or escape the main farm. The stones protruding through the sod mark a life that moved with the seasons, leaving behind a hollow small enough to walk through in a minute but deep enough to remember.

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 at the bottom of the basin just NE of the stream course. Another house (MA084-004003-) lies 5.5m to NW. It consists of a roughly oval-shaped space (4.1m NW–SE, 2.7m NE–SW) defined by grassy bank of irregular width (1.9m max.) and height (0.5m max. internally). A well-defined gap (Wth 1.2m) at N may mark the entrance. A second gap, almost opposite it at SW, may be result of trampling: slight traces of the bank still survive here and two stones protrude from the grass. A number of angular stones (max. dim. 0.25m) protrude through the sward at various points around the hut and there is a small jumble of five similar- sized stones immediately outside its north-western limits. A small circular grassy pit (dia. c. 1.4m, D 0.25m max.) dug into the bank at WSW, has almost completely removed it in this sector. 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

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