Hut site in Illaunloughan,portmagee

National Monument No. 10001. Illaunloughan/Oileán Lócháin (KE087-036017-) is a small, low-lying island located in Portmagee Channel, c. 120m from the mainland at S and c. 400m WNW of Portmagee (Port Mhic Aoidh) village. The island stands in the civil parish of Killemlagh (Cill Imleach), in the barony of Iveragh (Uíbh Ráthach). According to Marshall and Walsh (1998, 102) 'There is no historical documentation for the island, and the origin of its name is uncertain. Lochán may be the name of a saint associated with the island, a theory supported by the mention of two Lochans in the Martyrology of Oengus, written c. AD 800 (Stokes 1984, 255, 263) and by the inland location of Killoughane (Cill Lócháin) ecclesiastical site [KE065-058001-] at the eastern end of the Iveragh peninsula (O'Sullivan and Sheehan 1996, 357). Alternatively the island name may be derived from the island of the chaff. Four seasons of archaeological work, carried out from 1992 to 1995, have completed the excavation of about 70 per cent of the island. On the W shore of Illaunloughan. Hut B which is one of two hut sites (see KE087-036014-) revealed in an excavation of the area. The remains of a circular hut site (diam. c. 3.7m) were defined by a wall (T 1.5m) which consisted of two shallow parallel trenches. The hut site S-N was cut vertically through the outcropping bedrock. Several post-holes, spaced between 1.5-2m apart, were situated along the inner trench. These post-holes indicated a post and wattle revetment for a sod core (Marshall and Walsh 2005, 13). There was an entrance (Wth 1.3m) at E which was marked by two postholes. A paved pathway led to the entrance. A rectangular stone-kerbed hearth was situated towards the centre of the interior. A charcoal sample from the hearth was radiocarbon-dated to AD 640-751. The hearth was conserved in 2001-2 (ibid., 216-17). There is an adjoining hut site (KE087-036014-) immediately at N. An adjacent possible ecclesiastical enclosure (KE087-036017-) either pre-dated, or was contemporary with, these conjoined hut sites (Marshall and Walsh 1998, 109). ‘Unidentified stone with grooves’ (92E87:459:1) described by Marshall and Walsh (2005, 190-1, Fig. 97) as follows; ‘Stone with three grooves at the edge, otherwise appears unworked. Grey fine-grained sandstone, with striations of quartz. The grooves extend from the edge on the flatter side of a rounded beach stone. The grooves are deep and smooth: one is set at a right angle to the others, which themselves are set at 1800 to each other. The grooves superficially resemble those on ingot moulds, although considerably smaller and incomplete. There is no evidence for wear on the stone, such as might have arisen with cords or ropes. Its function is unclear. L 228mm, W 205mm, T 93mm. Recovered from the fill of the trench of hut B, level 1’. (White Marshall and Walsh 1998; 2005) This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 1/1998). See attached plan taken from Marshall and Walsh 1998, Fig. 11.5 The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Kerry. Volume I: South-West Kerry' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 30 March 2022