[[wiki-architecture]] · [[Buildings and Structures]] · [[ARCHITECTURE]] · [[000]] # Clochán A clochán (plural clocháin) or beehive hut is a dry-stone hut with a corbelled roof, commonly associated with the south-western Irish seaboard. The precise construction date of most of these structures is unknown with the buildings belonging to a long-established Celtic tradition, though there is at present no direct evidence to date the surviving examples before c. 700 CE. Some associated with religious sites may be pre-Romanesque, some consider that the most fully intact structures date after the 12th century or later. It is where monks lived. == Form == They are most commonly round beehive huts, but rectangular plans are known as well. It has been suggested that the rectangular footprints date to a later era. Some clocháin are not completely built of stone and may have possessed a thatched roof. The walls are very thick, up to 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in). Sometimes several clocháin are joined by their walls. == Locations == Clocháin are mainly found in the Southwest of Ireland, for example at Skellig Michael, Church Island off Beginish Island, Glanfahan, Fahan and Reask in the Dingle Peninsula of County Kerry. Many occur in religious contexts such as used by the monks following Saint Patrick; moreover, his successors carried on the architectural tradition in the Scottish island of Iona and eventually via Aidan to the eastern English islands of Farne and Holy Island. There are others in ringforts (such as Leacanabuaile, County Kerry) that are commonly interpreted as secular dwellings. Elaborate dry walled stone churches like the Gallarus Oratory may derive from the clochán. The clochán has been described in the 7th to 8th-century law Críth Gablach. Beehive huts are also found in West Penwith, Cornwall. == Popular culture == Parts of the 2017 film Star Wars: The Last Jedi were filmed using the beehive huts on the island of Skellig Michael. Because of the restrictions regarding filming on the island, a set of replica beehive huts were also built in 2016 at Ceann Sibéal, near Ballyferriter, on the Dingle Peninsula. == See also == Beehive house Christian monasticism Chysauster Romano-British settlement in southwest Britain Cleit Dry stone Hermits Vernacular architecture == Further reading == Olsen, B. (2003) Sacred Places North America, Santa Cruz, California: CCC Publishing Edwards, Nancy (1990) The Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland, London: Batsford Aalen, F. H. A. (1964) Clochans as Transhumance Dwellings in the Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry Henry, Françoise (1948) Early Irish Monasteries, Boat-Shaped Oratories and Beehive Huts Henry, Françoise (1956/1957) Early Monasteries, Beehive Huts, and Dry-Stone Houses in the Neighbourhood of Caherciveen and Waterville (Co. Kerry) Peter Harbison (1970), "How old is Gallarus oratory? A reappraisal of its role in early Irish architecture", Medieval Archeology, Vol. XIV, pp. 34–59 == References == - [[Digital Architecture/ePractice/Digital Fabrication]] - [[History and Theory/Biographies]] - [[Building Construction/Structural Systems/Timber Structures]] - [[Digital Architecture/ePractice/GIS and Spatial Analysis]] - [[Professional Practice/Codes & Standards/National Building Code of India/Part 08 - Building Services/Section 5A - Lifts]] - [[Professional Practice/Construction Management]] - [[Professional Practice/Codes & Standards/National Building Code of India/Part 08 - Building Services/Section 6 - ICT Installations]] - [[Building Services/Building Systems]] - [[Building Construction/Specifications and Detailing]] - [[Research, Analysis & Citations/Glossary]] == External links ==