Annacarney : Sweat House
Marked Sites
Visit Notes
Sunday, 12th May 2002
My first sweat house! and what a great thing it is. I asked directions at the farm house and the lady actually took me to it across the fields, over a brook (via dodgy stepping stones) and then took my picture next to it. Service with a smile! To her I say a big, "Thank you!" We were accompanied there by Rover a great little collie who took no time to dive inside.
The sweat house itself is now very well camouflaged against the bank. The structure is 2.2m tall and about 2m in diameter. Without the covering of shrubs it would resemble a brick beehive.
The entrance is tiny. It actually surprised me how small it was - I suppose this is quite practical really - making entering really fun. Once inside I was thrilled again. The pleasure I had felt at reaching my first sweat house doubled as I saw the inside - there are just two stones missing from the corbelled roof making this a very good example.
The inner sanctum is just 1.5m square and beautifully built. The drystone walls rise up to a height of about 1m and then the corbelling continues until the large centre roofstone is reached. From inside the babbling of the stream outside was quite surreal. I could have spent ages inside.
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About Coordinates Displayed
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This is an explanation of (and a bit of a disclaimer for) the coordinates I provide. Where a GPS figure is given this is the master for all other coordinates. According to my Garmin these are quite accurate. Where there is no GPS figure the 6 figure grid reference is master for the others. This may not be very accurate as it could have come from the OS maps and could have been read by eye. Consequently, all other cordinates are going to have inaccuracies. The calculation of Longitude and Latitude uses an algorithm that is not 100% accurate. The long/lat figures are used as a basis for calculating the UTM & ITM coordinates. Consequently, UTM & ITM coordinates are slightly out. UTM is a global coordinate system - Universal Transverse Mercator - that is at the core of the GPS system. ITM is the new coordinate system - Irish Transverse Mercator - that is more accurate and more GPS friendly than the Irish Grid Reference system. This will be used on the next generation of Irish OS maps. |
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