Man-made underground passage in Ballinlough Big,smithstown (kells Upper By.)

A Man-made underground passage at Ballinlough Big / Smithstown was described (Rotheram 1893, 306-07) as being about 300 yards from the chapel at Ballinlough along the road towards the north, but its precise location is not known. Rotheram continues: ‘I was told there were two caves. Mr. L. O’Reilly kindly gave me permission to excavate for them, and indicated their probable whereabouts. After some time the men employed succeeded in finding a roofing-flag of the passage which had been discovered many years ago when the hill here was reduced for the improvement of the road. The road appeared to cut the passage at right angles, and it was necessary to make a considerable hole in the footpath to gain admittance to the latter, its roof being just level with the road’s surface. Having got in I found that about 12 feet (c. 3.65m) of the passage remained, and led to a fine, domed chamber of the usual construction. An old man who had been in this cave when it was discovered, or soon after – for it seems to have been left open for a long time – assured me that there was a heap of ashes on the floor of the chamber, and that a girl found a silver coin nearly as large as a shilling n the passage, which he and others examined, but being afraid to take it out of the cave they left it among some gravel in the passage. As this passage was so short, and if continued far enough in the same direction would appear on the other side of the road, I had a trench cut there for some yards but failed to find the continuation. This trench was 22 feet (c. 6.7m) from the flag above the entrance by which we got into the chamber. The passage was of the usual type, broader below than at the top, and roofed with flags. Having obtained the necessary measurements, I closed up the entrance, which from its position could not be left open.’ 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: 25 February 2019