Man-made underground passage in Cathair Coinn

Widening a laneway here, at the base of the N slopes of Croaghmarhin, led to the discovery, in October 1966, of a single-chambered Man-made underground passage. This was inspected shortly afterwards by Rynne (NMI) but is not now accessible or even visible from the surface. Oval or sub-rectangular in plan, it was of drystone construction and measured 2.1m N-S and a maximum of 1.05m E-W. It was 1m high. The uppermost stone courses were slightly corbelled and the whole was roofed by 3 large lintels averaging .1 to .12m in thickness. The S wall was provided with a recess, rounded in plan, .35m wide and .65m above the floor level; its lower half was not stone-lined. Access to the Man-made underground passage was gained by removing one of the lintels and no other entrance was discovered. Though the chamber was cleared of all fill the only finds, 3 horse shoes and 2 animal bones, were all probably recent introductions. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 748. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 7 August 2013