Slievemore Deserted Village

The village runs for about a kilometre along the southern slope of Slievemore, close to a hundred houses of unmortared stone in a single line following the spring line where water emerged. It was inhabited year-round until the nineteenth century. The Famine emptied much of it, and afterwards the pattern shifted to booleying - the practice, unusual to have survived this late in Western Europe, of moving with cattle to summer pasture and living in the village only for that season, which continued into the 1940s. The houses are single-roomed, with a door and often no window, and the walls stand to head height or lower. A megalithic tomb and the ruined church and graveyard of Slievemore stand nearby. There is no interpretation on site beyond a panel, no path within the village and no facilities; the ground is rough, wet and full of hidden stone.

What to look for

• The line of houses - about a hundred, following the spring line for a kilometre.
• The single-roomed plan - unmortared stone, a door, often no window.
• The booleying history - summer occupation continuing into the 1940s.
• The graveyard and tomb - the church ruin and megalithic tomb nearby.

When to go

April to October. The ground is wet and rough all year. Low light, morning or evening, shows the line of walls far better than midday.

Things to know

No paths within the village and the ground is broken, wet and full of buried stone - twisted ankles are the common injury. No facilities or interpretation. Walls are unstabilised; do not climb on them.

Nearby

Keel and Keem Bay are west; the Minaun Cliffs are south.