Glanfahan

Glanfahan is a townland on the Dingle Peninsula, Ireland, notable for its large collection of clocháns, which form a National Monument.[1][2]

Glanfahan

Gleann Fán
Beehive hut (clochán)
Shown within Ireland
Alternative name	Fahan
Location	Glenfahan, Dunquin, County Kerry, Ireland
Region	Dingle Peninsula
Coordinates	52.100713°N 10.434301°W
Type	clocháns
History
Material	stone
Founded	c. 700–1200
Abandoned	17th–18th century?
Cultures	Gaelic Irish
Site notes
Ownership	State
Designation	Designations National Monument of Ireland Official name Glanfahan Reference no. 156

Location

Glanfahan is located on the southern slopes of Mount Eagle, overlooking Dingle Bay, 3.1 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of Dunquin.[3][4]

History

It is difficult to establish dates for Glenfahan as the drystone technique has been used in Ireland for millennia. However, it is believed to date to the early Christian period (5th–8th centuries AD), linked to the monastic traditions of the region and perhaps the pilgrimage route to Skellig Michael.[5]

Other historians place their construction in the 12th century, when Norman invaders forced the Gaelic Irish to peripheral areas like the Dingle Peninsula.[6][7][8]

It has been theorised that the huts were inhabited by the unfree and cashels by the freemen. Some Irish cashels remained in occupation up to the 18th century AD.[5]

In the 19th century a cross-slab and rotary quern were found in Cahermurphy.[9]

Some of the archeological sites were damaged in the 20th century by agricultural "improvements."[10]

Excavations in 2011–12 under "Clochaun 3" turned up a sharpening stone, hammerstone and pieces of flint and quartz. Bone finds included sheep, goats (with flensing marks) and fish, as well as a wrasse tooth of a kind used in amulets. Bivalve shells and hazelnut shells were also found.[11]

Description

There are 417 recorded dry stone structures, 19 souterrains and 18 standing stones in the area.[12]

A group of clocháns, built in a traditional corbelling style, form an abandoned village.[13]

Caherconner

An oval-shaped stone cashel containing three beehive huts.[14][15][16]

Cahermurphy

An oval stone cashel 23 m (75 ft) in diameter. The interior is occupied by a group of five conjoined clochauns and a sixth irregularly-shaped structure[9]

Caherfadaandoruis

An unusual cluster with three conjoined chambers, joined by a passage 23 m (75 ft) long.

Caheradurras

A triple clochaun.

References

1. Mytum, H. C. (24 February 1992). The Origins of Early Christian Ireland. Routledge. ISBN 9780415032582 – via Google Books.
2. Administrator. "Ireland's Dingle Peninsula -- 6,000 Years of History - Dingle - A Visitors Guide to the Dingle Peninsula (Corca Dhuibhne) in County Kerry, Ireland from Dingle Peninsula Tourism". www.dingle-peninsula.ie.
3. O'Curry, Eugene (24 February 1873). "Lectures, vol. 2". Williams and Norgate – via Google Books.
4. Schorr, Frank. "Fahan Beehive Huts (Glenfahan)". www.ancientireland.org.
5. Norman, E. R.; Joseph, J. K. S. St (24 February 1969). "The Early Development of Irish Society: The Evidence of Aerial Photography". CUP Archive – via Google Books.
6. "Fahan Beehive Huts, Dingle,County Kerry". Tour Ireland.
7. "The Beehive Huts of South West Kerry".
8. "Dingle Peninsula and Beehive Huts". 8 January 2016.
9. "2017 Ireland - Dingle Peninsula - Glanfahan".
10. Aalen, F. H. A.; Whelan, Kevin; Stout, Matthew (24 February 1997). Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9780802042941 – via Google Books.
11. "23197 « Excavations". www.excavations.ie.
12. Staff, Baedekers Guides; (Firm), Karl Baedeker; Staff, AA Publishing (24 February 2018). Ireland. Automobile Association. ISBN 9780749529628 – via Google Books.
13. "Glanfahan". www.irishstones.org.
14. "Caher Conor Kerry". indigo.ie. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
15. Henderson, Jon (1 December 2007). The Atlantic Iron Age: Settlement and Identity in the First Millennium BC. Routledge. ISBN 9781134076123 – via Google Books.
16. "Caher Conor Kerry". www.megalithicireland.com. Retrieved 2018-02-24.