What is recorded here

Danish invaders likely built the chambered passage near Skibbereen, though local legend credits fairy kings. Marmaduke Cox counted hundreds of skeletons and a carved comb before a giant stone sealed the deepest rooms. The chamber ceiling stands only about one and a half metres high, forcing every visitor to bend beneath a death chamber that may have belonged to people rather than myths.

Discovered in 1755 and investigated by the Rev. Marmaduke Cox (Smith 1750, vol. 2, 409-10). Passage leading into fifteen, possibly seventeen, large chambers (H c. 1.5m); access to further chambers blocked by large stone. One chamber said to contain five hundred skeletons, another five, some of which were burnt; carved wood comb and comb-case also found. Rev. Cox (ibid.) noted that the Man-made underground passage was 'about 150 yards' from a 'Danish fort,' probably the ringfort (CO072-009---) to the E. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 3: Mid Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

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