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Man-made underground passage in Gleann Fán

Man-made underground passage

What is recorded here

Caher Conor on Mount Eagle hides an 8.5m stone throat inside its southern wall, narrow enough to force a person into single file beneath missing roof slabs. The passage bites into the cashel like a forgotten wound, its corbelled cheeks leaning inward while a smaller L-shaped branch reaches toward the interior. People may have stored grain, hidden during storms or simply listened to the mountain breathe through rock. What is certain is that human hands built a dark room inside the hill, then let the hill take it back.
National Monument No. 156. Caher Conor/Cathair na gConchúrach: A sub-oval cashel situated on the lower S slopes of Mount Eagle overlooking Dingle Bay. The interior is now occupied by 5 structures in varying states of preservation, but other structures were formerly visible, and both the enclosing wall and the interior appear to have undergone considerable change since the site was first recorded in the 19th century. Souterrains/wall passages: A Man-made underground passage passage contained within the thickness of the cashel wall at S measures 8.5m in length, 1m in width and 1.5m in height. Its drystone-built walls are corbelled inwards, particularly on the N side, and it was roofed by a series of large slabs, many of which are now missing. Near the W end of the N wall is the opening to a 2nd passage which extends as far as a large clochaun in the interior. This passage is c. 0.7m wide x .75m high and the roofing slabs rest directly on the orthostatic side walls; it is roughly L-shaped in plan. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 571. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 7 August 2013

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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