What is recorded here

Half a metre beneath the southern edge of a Mayo rath, a stone lintel still bridges a passage that runs north through the mound. The cavity is small enough to block with a wooden pallet, yet the line of the build pushes onward beneath collapsed ground and animal burrows. Someone cut a hidden route through a sacred mound, then let the earth take it back.

In a rath (MA062-087001-). A Man-made underground passage is indicated on the 1837 and 1919 OS 6-inch maps as ‘Cave’ in the S half of the rath. There is a cavity (max. dim. c. 1m at top; D 1.2m) close to the enclosing scarp at the S edge of the rath interior. At the time of visit this was blocked by wooden pallet. On the N side of the cavity, at a depth of 0.8m below the surface, an opening to a stone-built passage can be seen. The opening is roofed by a stone lintel which rests on side walls constructed of large boulders. The passage extends through the interior to N. An area of surface subsidence, partly caused by animal burrows, located c. 5m to N may follow the line of the passage; a large stone slab visible in one of the burrows may be a lintel. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 7 December 2020

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