Man-made underground passage in Inishmurray

Located within the W sector of the enclosing wall of an ecclesiastical enclosure (SL011-011001-), known as ‘The Cashel’. Within the western enclosure or subdivision of the Cashel, a low creepway gives access to large mural chamber built within the Cashel wall on the west side. The creepway is built with drystone rubble side walls, spanned by large lintel slabs. The narrow entrance is flanked by small orthostats, forming jambs. The creepway is over 3 m long; it expands to 0.9 m at its mid point, but narrows again to pass between two more orthostatic jambs giving access to a large, well-made chamber. This is rectangular on plan, with vertical walls formed by massive edge-set slabs and a corbelled roof, closed by large slabs. The chamber measures 1.5 m long by 1.3 m (east/west); the roof rises to 1.3 m over a floor of humic earth. The above description is derived from the results of a survey of the archaeological monuments on Inishmurray undertaken in 1997-1999 and published in: Jerry O’Sullivan and Tomás Ó Carragáin 2008 Inishmurrary. Monks and pilgrims in an Atlantic landscape. Volume 1: Archaeological Survey and Excavations 1997-2000. Cork. The Collins Press. Date of upload: 16 January 2018