Man-made underground passage in Knockmant

A Man-made underground passage was discovered in 1976 c. 30m SW of a church site (WM027-009001-) and graveyard (WM027-009002-) during the course of quarrying operations. The Man-made underground passage was recorded by the Eamon Kelly of the National Museum of Ireland. Described by E. Kelly as consisting 'of a curved passage built of dry stone with a lintelled ceiling. At one end of this was a corbelled bee-hive chamber. The entrance was at the up-slope end of the passage. This was ovate and of dry-stone construction. There was a vertical drop into the passage 1m. deep. The structure had been constructed in a pre-dug trench which was then back-filled. A plain bronze strip was recovered from this back-filled material. A quantity of animal bones and charcoal was recovered from debris blocking the Man-made underground passage entrance' (www.excavations.ie). Compiled by: Caimin O’Brien Date of upload: 15 August 2013