Holyhead Mountain Hut Circles

The Holyhead Mountain Hut Circles, also known as Cytiau'r Gwyddelod or the Irishmen's Huts, are the remains of a group of prehistoric huts near Trearddur on Holy Island, Anglesey, Wales. The site is under the care of Cadw and can be visited all year round.Hut groupThe hut group is located on a level terrace that traverses the southwestern end of Holyhead Mountain. The precise age of the hut group is not clear. Much of the site is thought to date from the Iron Age but the settlement may have been in existence over an extended period of time from the Neolithic to the Dark Ages, with different buildings being in use at different times.Over fifty buildings were recorded when excavations were undertaken in 1860. The site was examined again between 1978 and 1982. About twenty huts have been reconstructed; each would originally have had a conical roof, supported by poles set on top of a low wall, covered with turf or thatch. Some of the huts are homesteads; these are mostly circular and hearths, alcoves and a stone trough have been identified. Others are oval and have a dividing wall, still others are entered by long passages, and some are small, and may have been used as storerooms or workshops. One building at the northeastern end of the terrace has a walled enclosure or paddock adjoining. Artefacts found at the site include a broken stone axe, flint arrowheads and pottery fragments from the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age. Inside one of the huts, a number of Roman coins were concealed.