Clochán na Carraige
The best example of Clochan (stone house) is situated near Cill Mhuirbihigh, in a position not very well marked (you have to walk for while among the fields to find
it).
Of oval shape, it's a stone house with its original roof perfectly conserved and still integral. The inside is of rectangular shape with two small openings to the North-west and South-East. A small window is situated on the wall to the South-West.
The two characteristic opposite doors are typical of all the thatched houses of the island: according to the tradition they were alternatively opened according to the direction of the wind (but other traditions indicate that instead they were used for milking cows: they enter through one door and go out through the other avoiding therefore dangerous manoeuvres in the inside of the house).
It is not still clear which period belongs these constructions even if some think that they can be dated to medieval
ages.
Others clochan can be seen to the West of Dún Eoghanachta and are similar, in shape, to the Clochán na Carraige, while in the area of Oghill there are little ruins of similar constructions of unknown age. But none is so well preserved as the Clochán na Carraige.
Tatched House
Everywhere in the islands there are numerous examples of thatched houses. They are the typical buildings of these regions and the roof must be re-thatched every 2 years before the autumn. These houses very small and had the opposite door structure like the Clochan. An example of Thatched House you can visit is situated in the heritage park of the Dún Eochla while on the island of Inis Meáin you can visit the house where
JJohn Millingotn Synge lived in his period of permanence on the
island.
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