Souterrain in An Bhinn Bhán (corca Dhuibhne)

In September 1976 a souterrain was discovered while ploughing a level field less than 300m from the entrance to Dingle Harbour. It was inspected by Fanning (OPW) prior to being closed up again and is now inaccessible. The accessible elements were roughly L-shaped in plan and consisted of 2 chambers, one rectangular, and the other D-shaped, connected by a narrow creepway. Another passage was discovered in the same field some years ago (local information). The rectangular chamber, orientated N-S, measured 2.7m in length and 1m in width at base, though slight corbelling of the side walls reduced the width to c. 0.7m at roof level. The walls were of drystone construction, the stones varying in size from .6 x .2m to .2 x .1m; smaller spalls filled the interstices. Five flat lintels roofed the 1.6m high chamber, and access was gained by removing the southernmost. A simple creepway opened from the W end of the S wall and extended 1.1m to the NE corner of the D-shaped chamber. Averaging .5m in width and .5m in height, it was constructed of upright slabs and roofed by 2 flat lintels. The provision of an arch stone about midway along further restricted access, the aperture being only .4m wide and .3m high. The D-shaped chamber, 1.8m E-W x 1m N-S, was of similar construction to the 1st chamber, but it had partly collapsed and had been interfered with; no roofing slabs remained in situ. A narrow passage, .45m wide, led away from the NW corner but could be traced for only a very short distance due to collapse. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 743. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 7 August 2013