wojazz3
Registered User
Posts: 474
(6/13/05 9:37 am)

Beehive huts

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Michele

So here's an interesting peice of information. I stayed at a B&B near Westport. The owner was very nice. He was Scottish and his wife was German. Somehow, mention of the beehive huts on Dingle came up. He stated that the ones along the coast there are fake and were (re)built 10-15 years ago. He even said that he knew some of the people that built them. Have you ever heard anything about this? I can't find any data online that would suggest this.

Bill

Michele Erdvig
Administrator
Posts: 3187
(6/13/05 9:48 pm)

Re: Beehive huts

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Bill,

I have looked at beehive huts in Dingle decades ago so some of them must be the real antique thing (like me)! I wouldn't put it past some enterprising farmers to build a couple of huts and charge a euro or two for admission. After all, stones are stones and who knows how long ago something was built?

I have a good book from 1979 called The Blue Guide and it says "Between Ventry and Slea Head, on the lower slopes of Mt Eagle over 400 clochans or beehive huts have been discovered in various states of preservation, the best of which are at Fahan. Indeed, it is said that some are still being built by the locals with an eye to attracting silver from the curious but less discriminating tourist."

I guess if you take one of those archaeological walking tours you might find out which beehive huts were built by the farmers and which ones were built by the fairies!

Michele

wojazz3
Registered User
Posts: 475
(6/15/05 12:12 pm)

Re: Beehive huts

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Michele:

Thanks for the info. I'll have to take a tour sometime. It would be interesting to know which ones the farmers are building.

Bill

Michele Erdvig
Administrator
Posts: 3193
(6/15/05 11:23 pm)

Re: Beehive huts

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Bill,

I'm sure there is much "restoration" going on all over Ireland. When I first saw Dunbeg Fort (Dingle) it was little more than a heap of stones. Now it is "restored" and admission is charged. I remember being able to drive up to Blarney Castle, park in front of it and go in. I recall when Ross Castle (Killarney) was a crumbling tower. One restoration that I think was sympathetically done is Parke's Castle near Sligo. They used a different color stone for the restoration so that there would be a clear deliniation of old and new.

A couple of places that I would recommend you see before they are restored are Kells Priory outside Kilkenny and the Rock of Dunamase near Portlaoise. There is a bit of ongoing "shoring up" at the moment but see it before there is admission charged and they are overrun with tourists.

Michele

Michele Erdvig
Administrator
Posts: 3198
(6/19/05 3:39 pm)

Beehive huts -- Ancient B&Bs!

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Bill,

An interesting side-note about the beehive huts. I was watching a program about ancient Ireland and Ireland's preeminent archaeologist Dr. Peter Harbison was being interviewed about pilgrimages in the middle ages. His conclusion was that the beehive huts were Ireland's first B&Bs, built to house the pilgrims visiting Ireland's holy places (Skellig Michael & Mount Brandon). En suite anyone?

Michele

Vicki
Unregistered User
(6/20/05 10:55 am)

Beehive huts

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I love this! I'm surprised some enterprising farmer hasn't open his own "restored" Beehive Hut B&B.

Michele Erdvig
Administrator
Posts: 3202
(6/22/05 4:13 pm)

Re: Beehive huts

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Vicki,

Don't give them any ideas!

Michele