Man-made underground passage in Mell

An L- shaped Man-made underground passage with a collapsed beehive chamber at one end was uncovered here in 2000 prior road construction of the M1 motorway (Excavation Licence 00E0631). The walls were of drystone construction. The total length of the Man-made underground passage was 36.88m and its roof (of lintels) was intact for almost one third of this. The average width of the passage was 0.72m and its height was 1.1m. At about mid-length there was a step c. 0.45m in height. A number of sherds of Carrowkeel ware pottery were recovered from the Man-made underground passage together with a bronze mount decorated with openwork interlace. Six sections of earthworks (LH024-043002-) were excavated in the vicinity. (Breen 2002, 235-6) Compiled by: Claire Breen Date of upload: 25 June 2013