Fionntán's Refuge - A LEGO Druid Hut in Ancient Ireland

My custom LEGO design, The Druid’s Hut, won a contest in a LEGO-themed Discord server in February, 2024. I’m proud to finally share both the build and the lore behind it.

This was a fully digital build.

🍄 Building a World in Microcosm

This build was an exercise in storytelling – how much history and meaning can be layered into a small diorama? I didn’t just want it to look Irish; I wanted it to feel like a place where myth might still breathe. From the mushrooms to the secret staircase, every brick is placed with intention.

Everything fits within the contest size requirements of 48 studs wide/long and 48 studs tall. 48 studs translates to a little over 15 inches or 38.4 centimeters.

LEGO test layout showing multiple mushroom designs and cap styles with a minifigure for scale — Early-stage mushroom prototypes in LEGO, testing shapes for druid scene elements

🌲 The Lore: Fionntán, Last of the Druids

Click To Expand The Lore

By the year 800 AD, all of the druids of Ireland are gone – save one. Fionntán is the last practitioner of the druidic practices. Most know him as a lonely hermit. None know his true calling. His last confidant died five years earlier. His mentor is long dead, no apprentice will follow. On rare occasions he visits a nearby town to sell fox fur, but otherwise keeps to himself in his secluded wattle & daub hut.

He spends his days and nights communing with spirits and practicing his rituals on the nearby cliff top. To avoid persecution, he has hidden the stairs to the clifftop behind a false wall in the cave where he draws his water.

Contains custom Lego builds based on real Irish flora:

Trees:

Scots Pine Tree (3x)
Rowan Tree (1x)
Birch Tree (2x)

Mushrooms:

Chanterelles
Field Mushrooms
Fly Agarics
Liberty Caps
False Parasol

Digital LEGO model with Irish forest and cave featuring flora local to Ireland

Scots Pine trees and two types of mushrooms on a digital LEGO forest clifftop — The ritual area sits on the clifftop, featuring Irish flora and a druid minifig picking some mushrooms to prepare in his hut

Overview Shot of LEGO Digital Design of Irish Druid's Hut with Hidden Cave Entrance — Overview of LEGO Druid’s Hut that I made for a contest, showing the whole scene

A digital LEGO model of a hut with surrounding mushrooms and cultivated garden plants — Mushrooms cluster around the druid’s hut, with a small garden cultivated nearby

LEGO Scots Pines and cliff terrain above a wattle-and-daub style hut — Rendered LEGO model showing hut, cliff, trees, and farmland from a side angle

LEGO foraging area with ladder against a tree, a basket of berries below, and a fox skin on a drying rack nearby — A ladder leans against the fruiting rowan as Fionntán’s tools rest below and a fox skin dries nearby – a glimpse into daily survival in ancient Ireland

🧱 The Build: Irish Nature in Bricks

Click To Expand Details In The Build

The hut and its surroundings were carefully modeled with a focus on botanical, historical, and regional accuracy. I wanted to ground the scene in the real ecology of Ireland while adding subtle storytelling details. Below are a few example details.

Druidic Ritual Circle

On the upper plateau, Fionntán picks mushrooms near a fairy ring of white mushrooms. There are multiple types of mushrooms throughout the scene, all native to Ireland and in locations they might be found in real life.

Hut Interior

The hut’s removable roof reveals a fully furnished interior, including a small central hearth (accurate to the time), a worktable for carving/crafting, a dining table, a mushroom prepping table (separate from dining table), a chest for clothes, a bed, and various items used in Fionntán’s daily life.

Secret Staircase & Cave Spring

The cave features a concealed stairway leading up to the hidden ritual area. Water flows from a spring near the cave’s mouth – the druid’s main source of fresh water