What is recorded here

Inishtooskert, the northernmost of the Blasket island group, holds a small circular hut within a southern field system while the northern half remains empty of settlement. The ruined wall rises half a metre from drystone and upright slabs, marking a human presence on rocky ground that slopes toward high cliffs. St. Brendan gives the nearby Early Christian settlement its name, suggesting the hut belonged to a community bold enough to live where sea-cliffs cut every escape route.

Inishtooskert, the northernmost of the Blasket island group, lies 4 miles off the W extremity of the Dingle Peninsula and 2.5 miles N of the Great Blasket. An area of 241 acres is bounded on all sides by sea-cliffs, and the land slopes upwards in a NW direction, from under 100 feet (30m) OD along the SE side to a maximum altitude of 573 feet (175m) roughly midway along the NW side of the island. The land is generally rocky with a thin soil cover and the N half of the island is devoid of any trace of settlement activity. Part of the S half of the island is occupied by a small field system, and it is within this that the Early Christian settlement, named after St. Brendan, is located. A circular hut-site measuring c. 4.7m in diameter internally. The ruined wall is formed by a combination of drystone masonry, up to .55m high, upright slabs and 2 large prostrate slabs, 2.8m and 3m long. Another old field boundary to S of the structure may have enclosed a forecourt or yard. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 844. 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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