Sneem Village - Ring of Kerry

Sneem, as the mid-point on the Ring of Kerry tourist loop, has become a popular spot for lunch and rest stops. It has two town squares ringed by homes and shops with colorful and picturesque facades.

A collection of ancient-looking structures, which date all the way back to 1989, was designed by Irish sculptor James Scanlon to adorn this village in County Kerry (southwest Ireland). They were executed by local stone workers and sit overlooking the Sneem River near St. Michael's Church. This group is called “The way the fairies went” and includes a stone that was a gift from Egypt. These pyramid shaped structures pay homage to the ancient stone beehive-shaped huts and stone monk’s cells found in this part of Ireland; timber was in short supply in early times, so they were built of stone without mortar, as are these modern day sculptures.

Below is an Irish beehive-shaped stone hut, called a Clochán, dating from the Bronze Age in Ireland (750 BC). Structures such as these were erected up until the early Middle Ages.