Souterrain

The National Monuments Service's description

Located towards the top of a N-facing slope which is at the N tip of a S-N spur between as S-N section of the Clady River c. 40m to the W and a S-N section of the River Boyne c. 65m to the E. This is a Z-shaped souterrain that had been recently discovered c. 1850 (Wilde 1850, 114-5) and was described in detail by Orpen (1890-1). A roofless entrance passage (L 3.2m) sloping steeply downwards to the N and then E (L c. 5.8m) led through a drop-hole (D c. 1m) into a lintelled passage that continued E (L c. 2.9m) to the southern (int. diam. c. 2.65m) of two chambers connected by a short SSE-NNW passage (L c. 2.6m). The north corbelled chamber (int. diam. c. 2.9m) was undamaged. The two unroofed outer passages are still visible but the rest of the souterrain is sealed.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of revision: 14 January 2015

References

Orpen, G. H. 1890-91 Subterranean chambers at Clady, Co. Meath. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 21, 150-4.

Wilde, W. 1850 The beauties of the Boyne and its tributary, the Blackwater (2nd ed). Dublin. McGlashan.