Hut site in Rathnew

Hut site with souterrain (WM024-066003-) underneath described by Macalister and Praeger as the 'Western House' in W area of a conjoined enclosure (WM024-066----) excavated by Macalister and Praeger (1928), the results of which have been recently re-interpreted by Schot (2006). The conjoined enclosure is one of a cluster of monuments situated on the Hill of Uisneach. Nearby monuments include a mound barrow (WM024-173----) 200m to the N, an earthwork (WM024-068----) 390m to the SE, an embanked roadway annotated 'ancient road' (WM024-067----) runs onto the S side of the monument, a ringfort (WM024-063----) and holy well (WM024-60----) lie 390m to the SSW, an earthwork (WM024-065----) lies 290m to the W, a second earthwork (WM024-062---) 270m to the WNW, and a ritual pond known as Logh Lugh (WM024-064002-) 170m to the NW. The western house was described in 1928 as following; 'This structure consists of two parts, the Upper Chamber and the Souterrain. The Upper Chamber is much ruined, owing to the universal spoliation of stones. Nothing is left of it except the mere foundations of two portions of its enclosing wall. These are insufficient to tell us what the masonry of the complete structure was like; but it was probably very rough, and certainly was of stone set in clay. It is impossible to say whether the walls were perpendicular and covered with a horizontal wooden roof, or whether they approximated by oversailing, thus making a dome-shaped structure. So far as the extant fragments permit us to judge, the internal dimensions of the Upper Chamber were 17' [5.18m] north to south, and 15' [4.57m] east to west. It was bounded by a wall, of which nothing now remains except the north-west and the south-east angles, and fragments of the adjacent foundation. The former angle is very obtuse, and the wall is here 4 feet 6 ins. [1.37m] thick. The latter is a fairly well-made right angle, and the wall is here no less than 6 feet [1.8m] thick. The stones used in this part of the building are rather larger, on the average, than those used in the Souterrain. A few remain which measure from 2 ft. 6 ins. [0.76m] to 3 feet [0.91m] in diameter. There was but one chamber in the upper portion of the building. Access to the Souterrain [WM024-066003-] must have been obtained by means of a man hole in the floor of the Upper Chamber' (Macalister and Praeger 1928, 112-3). On the 1837 edition of the OS 6-inch map the monument is depicted as a large circular ringfort with D-shaped annexe on the E side of the ringfort. On this map a 'Cave' or souterrain is annotated and depicted in the centre of the ringfort, the E quadrant of the ringfort interior has been divided into two small areas defined by earthen banks which run off the N & E side of a rectangular shaped platform located in the S quadrant of the ringfort. This rectangular platform appears to be the foundations of a hut site. A second possible hut site is depicted in the centre of the W annexe on the 1837 edition of the OS 6-inch map. These earthworks are clearly visible on aerial photographs taken 09/07/1964 (CUCAP AJQ092/093/094), 12/07/1966 (CUCAP AOY072/073/074) and 11/07/1969 (CUCAP AYR014/015/016). See attached plan of site taken from Schot 2006 after Macalister and Praeger 1928 Compiled and revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 19 August 2019