Souterrain in An Cheathrú Thoir

This souterrain was discovered in March 1969 when part of its roof collapsed under the weight of a bulldozer clearing ground for construction of a house (Waddell 1970a, 15-6; NMI). Two chambers, connected by a short passage, were revealed. Both chambers, one slightly larger than the other, were of dry-masonry construction and of approximately oval shape. The larger chamber, orientated N-S, measured approximately 2.5m in maximum length and 2m in maximum width. Its roof had completely collapsed and it was not possible, without excavation, to discover its entrance. It was connected to the 2nd, smaller chamber by a short, low, narrow passage at floor level. This dry-masonry passage, roofed with flat slabs, measured 1m in length, .22m in width and .6m in height. At a point .37m from the smaller chamber, movement along the passage was impeded by a porthole slab, its aperture measuring only .33m in maximum width and .33m in height. The smaller chamber was 3.2m long E-W but only 1.2m wide; its walls rose vertically for approximately two-thirds of the height, at which point they inclined slightly inwards and were roofed with 3 flat slabs 1.5m from the floor. Only one of these slabs remained in situ. Except for a large deposit of shells, found mixed with the collapsed material in the larger chamber, nothing was found in the souterrain. Only the smaller chamber is visible at present. Immediately W of the souterrain is a large, L-shaped earthen bank, 13.7m long E-W, 16.3m N-S and from 3.5 to 2.8m in width; it averages 1.5m in height. This feature may be connected with the 19th century dwellings and small fields shown on the 1st edition of the OS map. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 750. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 7 August 2013