Souterrain

The National Monuments Service's description

Discovered c. 1824 'by a labourer who was trenching the ground and came upon one of the large flags on top' (Conwell 1864, 48). The original entrance has been disturbed and reconfigured by 19th century landscaping. The souterrain consists of an entrance passage which runs SW and incorporates a trap-door feature short of mid-way along its length (overall L c. 14m). The passage terminates in a T-junction. The right-hand passage runs NW and turns W in a dog-leg that incorporates another trap-door feature: this leads via a further passage to a beehive chamber (diam. 4m; H 2.6m). The left-hand passage runs SE for 14m and terminates in a beehive chamber (diam. 5.15m - 5.6m; H 2.9m). (Moore 1987, 53, No. 437; Clinton 1993)

Compiled by: Paul Walsh

Date of upload: 6 November 2012

References

Conwell, E. C. 1864 On Ancient Remains, hitherto undescribed, in the County of Meath. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. 9 (1864-66), 42-50.

Clinton, M. 1993 Souterrain at Loughcrew, near Oldcastle, County Meath. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 123, 120-126.

Moore, M. 1987 Archaeological inventory of county Meath. Dublin. Stationery Office.