What is recorded here

Seven metres of shadow stretch beneath the cliff-edge fort at Meggagh West, splitting into rock-cut and stone-built sections that narrow until a person must crawl or turn back. Trees force through broken roof-lintels, dragging daylight into the dark and suggesting the passage has been abandoned long enough for the landscape to reclaim it. The fort stood above the sea, yet this hidden tunnel points downward and inward, as if building privacy itself into the hill.

Situated partly in the S periphery of a cliff-edge fort (CL009-172001-) but also extending over the steep rocky slope to its S, this Man-made underground passage (7.15m NNE-SSW; Wth 0.65-1.15m; H 0.85-1.25m) comprises a N section (in the fort) which is cut into bedrock, and a free-standing S section built of large stones. The S section (L at W 3.35m; Wth at N 1.15m; Wth at S 0.65m; H at S 0.85m) has walls of long stones (L c. 1m; Wth 0.5m), with four roof-lintels in place. At least two large gaps in the passage roofing have trees growing through them. The rock-cut N section (L at W 3.8m; L at E 2m) is covered by four lintels which increase in height (max. 1.25m) with the slope in the interior of the fort. The rock-cut floor of the Man-made underground passage also rises toward the N, and the passage narrows (min. Wth 0.8m). At the N end an uncovered section (2.6m NNE-SSW; Wth 1.6m) slopes up to ground level; this may be the remains of the original Man-made underground passage entrance. Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Conn Herriott Date of upload: 11 July 2022

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