This is the first thing along the trail starting from the Lough Gur Visitor Centre.
The name "The Spectacles" comes from a circular hut site standing adjacent to a natural circular rocky outcrop.
The site was occupied by a farming community in the period from about 400 to 1200.
There are the traces of three round houses and a rectangular structure which was probably a shed for cattle. The houses were made of stones in the lower part and of timber and mud in the upper part, with a roof supported by timber poles. The presence of postholes outside the plan of the house might suggest that the entrance had a porch-like structure.
The houses had one or two hearths.
Unfortunately the site is spread over a very large area and very little can be seen from the ground level. No elevated point of view is available, so much imagination is needed here.
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