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Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland

Souterrain

Donaghmore, County Louth, Ireland

Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1915) covering the location of Souterrain, Donaghmore, County Louth, with a pin at the register's coordinates
Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1915), covering this location. Courtesy of the National Library of Scotland. The pin is ours, placed from the register's coordinates.

The record

Townland
Donaghmore
County
Louth
Country
Ireland
First-edition OS map
Not indicated
Latest-edition OS map
Not indicated
Coordinates
54.00343, -6.45905
SMR number
LH006-060001-

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

4 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1636 map "Vltoniae Orientalis Pars" (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

Historical maps covering this location

  • 1636 · Vltoniae Orientalis Pars (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1799 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1811 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1891 · Ireland 16 (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

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This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗

The National Monuments Service's description

Discovered during building construction. The souterrain consists of a passage (L 17.2m, Wth 1m, H 0.9m-1.5m) running N-S, with the original entrance at the N end. At the S end of the first passage is a second passage (L 14.6m, Wth 1.1m, H 1.2m) running SW. A third passage (L 6.7m, Wth 0.9m, H 1.2m) runs SE from the SW end of the second passage. A drop-hole formed by a gap in the lintels, 2.7m from the SE end of the third passage gives access to a fourth passage (L 3.9m, Wth 0.9m, H 1.4m) extending SW at an upper level. At the SW end of the fourth passage is a second drophole giving access to a fifth passage (L 19.7m, Wth 0.8m-1m, H 1.2m) extending SW at the lower level and terminating in the middle of the NE side of a gallery (L 10.7m, Wth 1.7m, H 1.7m) aligned NW-SE. (CLAJ 1959, 148-53)

This is a national monument in the guardianship of the State (No. 526), but it is closed to the public for the foreseeable future, because of damaged lintels (Dundalk Democrat 11/04/2017).

The above description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of revision: 12 April 2017

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Sites and Monuments Record data: National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Record text is reproduced unchanged. National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland · CC BY 4.0
All Souterrain in Louth All County Louth records All Ireland Heritage registers Historical markers (US)National Register of Historic Places (US)
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