Man-made underground passage in Spurtown Lower

In pasture, on a SE-facing slope. Discovered in 1983 when a low natural rise was being levelled and a stone was exposed which, when removed, revealed a chamber underneath. The Man-made underground passage was subsequently recorded and described as a subrectangular stone-built chamber (2.7m NE-SW; 2.55m NW-SE; H 2.6m) with a corbelled roof (SMR (1989) file). The floor was covered with a wide scatter of loose stones. There was an entrance to a collapsed passage (H 0.55; Wth 0.5m) at the S end of the SW wall with spill of earth and stone extending from it into the chamber. A second collapsed passage (H 0.6m; Wth 0.47m; min. L 0.6m) was noted in the NE wall. A third passage (H 0.6m; Wth at base 0.6m; Wth at top 0.7m; L 1.4m) led into a second oval chamber (3.2m NW-SE; 1.7m NE-SW). The exit from this passage into the chamber narrowed to 0.33m. The second chamber was roofed with lintels and almost filled with collapsed earth and stones that have spilled in from the NW end of the chamber. The top of the Man-made underground passage now lies 0.4m below ground level but was originally c. 1-1.5m below it. Access to the Man-made underground passage is now closed. A rath (SL039-052001-) lies 19m to SE. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005). Date of upload: 18 January 2008