Survey Data
Reg No
40901232
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Social, Technical
Original Use
Sweat house
Date
1830 - 1880
Coordinates
258851, 444073
Date Recorded
25/09/2008
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding sweat house, erected c. 1860, stone cell arranged on circular plan, comprising of dry stone walls rising to form domed roof. Entered by low square-headed opening with flat-stone lintel to north. Roof largely overgrown and partially collapsed. Built into west face of Crocknameragh Hill. Structure bounded by barbed-wire fence.
Appraisal
A rare piece of vernacular heritage in the context of Donegal. Although no longer in use, it survives largely complete and as such very much interpretable. Dating is particularly difficult. A small settlement of Leckmey is marked on the Ordnance Survey first edition six-inch map of c. 1837 but the sweat house is not. However it is shown and named on the late nineteenth century 25" survey. Sweat houses were the forerunner of our modern sauna and considered a cure for many ailments.