God forsaken and desolate, devoid of inhabitants apart from the odd rodent... "Someone is going to have to clean this tent" said my wife. I agreed but suggested we go and have a look at the Deserted Village instead. The village is close to Keel and definitely somewhere you should have a look at if you are in the area. It is the remains of an entire village on the hillside overlooking Keel. It comprises of nearly 100 stone cottages all deserted around the time of the great Irish famine (though I'm not so sure what was so great about it, it sounds awful). We were fascinated - the houses are all roofless and in severe disrepair but you get an idea of the cramped conditions in which people lived. I would love to have seen a reconstructed house - so we could get an idea of where the fire was and where people slept - there were no fire places or obvious cooking areas or chimneys or anything. read more

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