Souterrain in Doire Fhionáin Mór

A U-shaped, drystone-built souterrain (KE106-073001-) occurs in the W half of the caher's interior. Many of its roofing lintels have been removed. An opening, .5m x .3m, is contained within the enclosing wall of the site at SSW and gives access to a passage, 1.1m high and .75m wide, which extends NE for a distance of 3.8m before turning to continue E for a further 4.5m. This passage measures .85m high and .7m wide, and the roofing slabs of its mid-section have collapsed. A recess, .75m wide and .7m deep, occurs in its S side-wall at the E end, and may evidence the original entrance to the souterrain. From here the passage turns to N and extends in this direction for 2.7m. No roofing lintels survive on this stretch, which is only .4m wide. At its N end this passage turns to W and runs for 2.2m, at which point the level of its floor drops by .4m. An accumulation of fill along the floor of the passage prevents access beyond this point. It appears to continue, however, for a further 2m, at which point, beneath the caher's enclosing wall, it widens considerably. An inaccessible opening, .5m x .2m, occurs in the base of the caher's external wall-face at this point, where there is a 1m wide break in the basal step. The above description is derived from A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan (compilers), 'The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry'. Cork University Press (1996), no. 575. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 29 July 2013