The largely "undiscovered" archaeology of the Iveragh peninsula in south Kerry is to feature prominently in a festival in the area this weekend.
The 11th Eigse na Brideoige, or celebration of the indigenous culture and traditions of the area, focuses on the tradition of the "Biddy", the welcoming of spring on St Brigid's Day in the peninsula.
Traditionally, going out on "the Biddy" in Iveragh was when groups of adults dressed up (often in old sheets with tinsel belts) and danced and sang their way house to house. It culminated in massive "Biddy balls", where the money collected was spent to entertain local communities with music, food and drink.
The money goes to charity now, and the tradition is mainly kept by the children.
However, the Eigse, aimed at locals and spread throughout the peninsula, is a celebration, too, of the archaeology of the area, with lectures in Irish and English as well as a guided archaeological walk and Biddy balls.
While local small farmers and landowners always knew of the hundreds of monuments - fairy forts, crosses, stone slabs, oratories, rock art and graves on their lands - only dramatic Iron Age forts, such as Staigue, near Castlecove, or the early Christian monastery of Skellig Michael, off the coast, were widely known.
The extent of these monuments was not realised until the publication of a survey carried out in the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s.
Mr John Sheehan, head of the Department of Archaeology in UCC, is co-author with Ms Ann O'Sullivan of the book, The Iveragh Peninsula: An Archaeological Survey of South Kerry (Cork University Press). He will talk about Iveragh's position "at the heart of Irish archaeology" this weekend.
He said the sites on the peninsula are "very non-commercial, very pure," unlike those on the Dingle peninsula, which have been commercialised. For further information, phone 066-9474123.