Souterrain

The National Monuments Service's description

In the SW quadrant of Caherscreebeen (CL016-020026-). Westropp (1900-2, 431) noted that the cashel had ‘traces of enclosures, and two souterrains’ and he included two ‘caves’ in his plan (1913, 255). He did not mention a second souterrain in his main description of the site (1896, 368). As the two ‘caves’ on his plan are fairly close together it may represent another part of the one souterrain noted on inspection in 1997. That comprised a short undifferentiated passage aligned SSW-NNE (L 3.05m; max. Wth 1.47m; max. H 1.68m). It was accessed through an opening close to the inner wall of the cashel and extended NNE terminating at a shallow stone bench (T 0.3m; H 0.5m). The walls are corbelled inwards from the bottom and the passage is roofed with four stone lintels. The cashel also contains a house site (CL016-020038-).

Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Eve Campbell

Date of upload: 28 March 2023

References

Westropp, T.J. 1896 Prehistoric stone forts of northern Clare, parts I & II. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries 26, 142-58, 362-9.

Westropp, T.J. 1913 Prehistoric remains (forts and dolmens) in the Corofin district, Co. Clare (no. 11). Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries 43, 232-60.