Cave — Gortnadrass

Located in the S half of a rath (MA032-016001-). Indicated as 'Cave' on the 1914 OS 6-inch map, this drystone-built souterrain consists of a N−S passage, which connects at its S end via a short creep to a subrectangular chamber. The walls are constructed of roughly coursed limestone rubble, consisting of irregular-shaped medium and large stones and boulders, with smaller stones filling the interstices. The passage and chamber are each roofed by a row of contiguous large limestone slabs. The roof lintels and the stones in the upper courses of the walls are covered in a thick white coating of calcium carbonate . A surface opening (H c. 0.55m; Wth c. 1m) leads into the passage (L c. 3.6m N−S; Wth 1m E−W), which slopes downwards to S. Displaced earth, incorporating a large boulder, partly blocks the access hole. The walls of the passage are composed of between four to six courses and incline inwards gently towards the top to support four large lintel slabs, laid transversely. The sloping floor gives the passage a height of 1.12m close to the entrance at N and of 1.5m at the lower S end. The floor is covered by loose stone rubble. In the S wall of the passage there is short creep (H 0.69m; Wth 0.68m at base, 0.6m at top; L 0.75m). The opening to the creep spans almost the full width of the S wall of the passage, with its W side wall being almost flush with the W wall of the passage, and its E wall separated from the E wall of the passage by a short offset/corner. The creep is roofed by a single lintel, which does not extend the full N−S length of the creep; the S end of the creep is roofed by two roughly-set boulders. The creep opens into the N end of a subrectangular chamber (L 2.55m N−S; Wth 1.98m E−W; H 2.1m) with gently rounded corners. The walls of the chamber rise in six to eight rough courses, with the upper courses slightly corbelled to support three massive roof lintels, set transversely. A fourth smaller subsidiary lintel fills a gap at the SE end of the roof. In the centre of the E wall, at a height of 0.3m (one course) above current floor level, there is a rectangular recess or wall cupboard (H 0.64m; Wth 0.46m N−S), which extends to a depth of 1.07m (E−W). The sides of the recess are of 2-3 courses of large stones; it is roofed by a single large lintel slab (L 1.2m N−S; Wth 0.7m E−W) which does not span the full depth of the recess. A large boulder forms the floor, but this is largely concealed by displaced earth spilling from the back wall of the recess, which is cut into natural subsoil and is not faced with stone. The chamber floor is overspread with a layer of loose limestone rubble, with accumulations of gravelly soil beneath the wall recess and in the SW corner of the chamber. A quernstone fragment (SL032-016003-) was found close to the souterrain (NMI). Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of revised upload: 22 March 2020