Souterrain

The National Monuments Service's description

Located in the interior of a rath (SL019-160001-), close to the enclosing scarp at S. This souterrain was recorded by O'Rorke (1878, 275-6) as '...a cave ten or twelve feet [3.66m] long and four or five feet [1.22-1.52m] wide; roofed with flags resting on sidewalls of uncemented stones'. The accessible remains consists of two intact, interconnecting chambers (chambers 1 and 2) on a roughly N–S axis, and a ruined, roofless chamber/passage (chamber 3), c. 3-4m to W of these. The current access is at surface level through an opening (max. dim. c. 0.45-0.5m) in the roof of chamber 1, the southernmost of the two intact chambers. The opening is the result of the collapse of a roof lintel. Chamber 1 (L 5.2m NNE–SSW; Wth 1.45m; H 2m) is oblong in plan. The walls are constructed of random rubble incorporating large, irregular-shaped stones and boulders. They incline inwards towards the top to support a roof of massive overlapping slabs. An air vent was noted in the SW wall(pers. comm. M.A. Timoney 2003). Two lintel-roofed creeps open off the chamber at ground level. A creep (L 2.2 N−S; H 0.9-0.95m) at the NNE end of the chamber opens into the S end of chamber 2. In chamber 1, the opening to this creep forms a short lobby (L 0.7m NNE–SSW; Wth 0.76m) roofed by a massive boulder. Beyond this, the creep narrows (Wth 0.54m), before widening and rising in height (Wth 0.8m; H 1.6m) at the point where it merges with the S wall of the chamber 2. Chamber 2 (max. Wth 1.6m; H 2.2m) is of similar construction to chamber 1, but is considerably longer, extending to N for at least 10m. It appears to narrow towards its N end, where it is blocked by a sloping heap of stone rubble. The lintelled opening (Wth 0.71m; H 0.62m) to the second creep in Chamber 1 is located at the SW end of the chamber. This creep extends for at least 2m to NW but is blocked by collapsed soil. It may lead to the ruined chamber 3 which is exposed at surface level to W of chamber 1. Chamber 3 consists of a sub-rectangular depression (L c. 3.6m E–W; Wth 1.7m N–S; D c. 0.9m at E end) with drystone walling on the N, E and S sides, and one in situ lintel at its E end. It may be the original entrance passage/chamber to the souterrain. It is engulfed in overgrowth, and partly filled with soil and stones, which may obscure a creep leading to chamber 1. During an inspection in 1994 a large stone slab was noted protruding from the ground c. 3m E of the chamber 3 possibly indicating another chamber or passage.

Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy

Date of revised upload: 12 December 2016

References

O'Rorke, T. 1878 History, antiquities and present state of the parishes of Ballysadare and Kilvarnet. Dublin. J. Duffy and Sons.