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Man-made underground passage in Saintjohnstown (st. Johnstown Ed)

Man-made underground passage

What is recorded here

No ringfort or passage remains visible today, though maps once marked a hilltop enclosure above the Foyle valley. People dug through soil and exposed a narrow underground chamber roofed with enormous flagstones before filling it again. The lost shape suggests human hands building beneath a familiar landscape, perhaps to hide, store or worship away from sight.
No trace of the single-ringed enclosure (DG063-004001-) marked on the 2nd edition of the OS 6-inch maps now survives. It was situated on top of a hill overlooking the valley of the Foyle. Close-by but apparently outside the area of the ringfort a section of a Man-made underground passage, about 4ft deep with a flagstone roof, each stone being about 2yds wide, was found. It was subsequently filled in. 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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