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Man-made underground passage in Dooballagh

Man-made underground passage

What is recorded here

Dooballagh holds a collapsed underground chamber that once cut through a fort bank like a hidden door. The passage measured two metres wide and stretched seventeen metres north to south before falling into the earth. It may have let people leave the fort without climbing the bank or carrying water into the middle of the defences. The chamber no longer stands, but its shape still lies under the ground like a forgotten room.
A subcircular area (DG061-015001-) delimited by an earthern/turf bank, up to 1.75m high on the NE side, containing some stone. A fosse and the partial remains of a second bank can be seen on the N side of the fort. Only slight evidence of this outer bank survives on the S and W sides but there is no sign of it on the E where the ground slopes steeply away. Remains of lazy bed cultivation run E-W inside the site and a collapsed L-shaped Man-made underground passage (2m wide, 3m E-W, 17m N-S and 1.5m deep) runs from the interior out under the bank on the SE side, where it assumes the appearance of a well. Situated on the side of a boggy slope the site presently commands a main routeway. The above description was derived from the 'Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century.' Compiled by: Brian Lacey with Eamon Cody, Claire Cotter, Judy Cuppage, Noel Dunne, Vincent Hurley, Celie O'Rahilly, Paul Walsh and Seán Ó Nualláin (Lifford: Donegal County Council, 1983). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated. Date of upload: 22 September 2008

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.

What survives
Recorded monument

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