Man-made underground passage in Bray

In the N half of a hut site (KE087-025008-). This Man-made underground passage was excavated in 1999 and the following is a summary account based on Hayden (1999). It was found to have been built prior to the construction of the hut site. The Man-made underground passage comprised an earthen entrance passage, two drystone-built passages joined by creepways and two earth-cut chambers. Access to the Man-made underground passage from the hut site was via a square opening (0.5m x 0.5m) covered by a stone slab. This opening led to the entrance passage (Wth c. 1.5m), roofed with lintels, and unlined apart from the S end which had drystone-walling. A partially collapsed earth-cut creepway (Wth 0.35m; H c. 1m) in its W wall gave access to Passage 1. Passage 1 (L 3.75m; Wth 1.2m H c. 2m; long axis E-W) was drystone-built and its sides inclined inwards towards the roof, which consisted of two courses of large flat stones. A partially collapsed earth-cut creepway (H c. 1.1m) at the W end of Passage 1 gave access to Passage 2. This creepway was lined at the base of its sides by vertically set stones. Passage 2 (L c. 3m; Wth 1m; long axis N-S) was similarly constructed to Passage 1 and had an air-vent at its N end. An earth-cut creepway at the N end of Passage 2 led into the easternmost (L 1.85m; Wth 1.75m; H 1.2m) of the two earth-cut chambers. A creepway (L 0.8m; Wth 0.6m; H c. 0.5m) connected this chamber to the westernmost chamber (L 2.85m; Wth 1.6m; H 1.2m). A pit (diam. c. 1m; D c. 1m), filled with stones and redeposited subsoil, had been dug into the floor of this chamber and was considered by the excavator to be a sump. A construction shaft (2.7m x 1.6m; D 2.5m) for these chambers was found immediately to the N. Two lines of slots and stake-holes extended S from the S side of the Man-made underground passage and may have been related to its construction. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Kerry. Volume I: South-West Kerry' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 30 May 2011