Man-made underground passage in Coomnakilla South

In the process of removing topsoil and gravel adjacent to a children's burial ground (KE092-011----) and hut site (KE092-011001-) a previously unrecorded Man-made underground passage was discovered by the landowner. A preliminary inspection was carried out in October 2011 by the National Monuments Service. A follow-up inspection and survey was undertaken by Julianna O'Donoghue Archaeological Services (11E450; 11R155). The Man-made underground passage consists of four earth-cut chambers linked by three passages. The passage walls are of drystone construction of local sandstone. No evidence of the original entrance survives. Passage 1 (Wth 1m; L 1.25m; H 1m) has an E-W alignment with only one of the lintels remaining in-situ. A chamber is located at each end of passage 1. Chamber 1 (Wth 2.15m; L 4.4m; H 1.5m), at the E end, is accessed through a creepway (Wth 0.45m; L 0.4m; H c. 0.6m ). This sub-rectangular chamber has a NE-SW alignment and a dome shaped roof. Chamber 2 (Wth 1.45m; L 3.4m; H 1.2m), at the W end is also sub-rectangular in plan and is largely unroofed. Passage 2 (linking passage 1 and chamber 3) has entirely collapsed. A crrepway (Wth 0.5m) leading to the passage is located at S at a right angle to passage 1. Chamber 3 (Wth 1.3m; L 2.8m) is sub-rectangular in plan and almost completely destroyed with only a part of the W end remaining intact. Most of roof has collapsed into the chamber. No evidence of the access between passage 2 and chamber 3 survives. Access from chamber 3 to passage 3 is through a creepway (Wth 0.46m; L0.3; H 0.5m). This passage (Wth 1.1m; L 2.6m), orientated on an NNE-SSW axis, has all seven lintels of its roof intact. The back wall of the passage (SW) contains a constricted creepway to a sub-circular chamber 4 (1.5m N-S; 1.36m E-W) with a dome shaped roof. Compiled by: Matt Kelleher Date of upload: 10 July 2014