Souterrain in Togherstown

Situated on a terrace, on NNE-facing slope of Ushnagh Hill, in pasture, with excellent views to W, N and E. In W quadrant of ringfort (WM024-028----) are the remains of a rectangular-shaped house site (WM024-028002-) with a souterrain (WM024-028003-) located within this structure. House site and souterrain excavated in 1929-30 (Macalister and Praeger 1929-31). Listed by the excavators as the 'Greater Souterrain' which was described as following; 'Returning to the western court north of the Central Court, we enter at a doorway in its western wall. This doorway has two jamb-stones, 2 ft. 3 ins. [0.68m] apart, 2 ft. 2 ins. [0.66m] high, and 2 ft. [0.6m] broad. In the opening between them, there are two paving-flags, with a third behind them at a slightly lower level, forming a step downward. Behind this again there is another flagstone at the western side of the passage, forming a further step down ward 1 ft. 2 ins. [0.35m] deep. This doorway gives admission to a chamber, 12 ft. 4 ins. [3.75m] in length, and 4 ft. 2 ins. [1.27m] in maximum breadth. The height was at least 4 ft. 10 ins. [1.5m], but the roofing-flags are all gone. These must have formed a pavement for the triangular court overhead. The floor slopes downward by about 2 feet [0.6m] in its course. The chamber at Togherstown ends in a doorway 1 ft. 2 ins. [0.35m] across, which gives access to a further chamber, B; a drop of 9 inches [0.22m] leads from the threshold of the doorway to the floor. This second chamber is kidney-shaped on plan, 19 ft. 6 ins. [6m] long, 6 ft. 10 ins. in maximum breadth. Three of the roofing-flags remain, giving a clear height of 5 ft. 6 ins. [2m] above the floor in the middle of the chamber - rather more at the end. The floor is very neatly paved with sandstone flags which, though irregular in shape, are well fitted into one another, producing an effect which resembles the "crazy pavements'' of artistic gardens. At the southern end of the chamber there is a cupboard-like recess just under the roof. It is 3 ft. 9 ins. [1.14m] above the floor, 3 ft. [0.9m] across, 2 ft. 6 ins. [0.76m] high, and is built all round with stones. The floor of this cupboard consists of two flat flagstones, with a row of five stones along the outer edge forming a kind of high sill. The roof of the cupboard is formed by a great stone, 5 ft. [1.5m] long, 2 ft. [0.6m] across, 1 ft. [0.3m] thick, kept in position by smaller stones wedged into the earth at each end. From the back of the cupboard there runs a narrow ventilating shaft, 7 ft. 6 ins. [2.28m] long, formed of small stones close together, supporting small cover-slabs. At the N.E. corner of the chamber there is what may be described as a kind of portico (C), badly built, 4 ft. 8 ins. [1.42m] in length by 4 ft. 6 ins. [1.37m] wide; it was at least 5 ft. 5 ins. [1.65m] high. It steps down into the creep-passage (D) which follows, behind an irregularly shaped sill-stone which is flush with the ground on the outer side, but on the inner rises 10 ins. [0.25m] above the floor. The creep-passage runs eastward from the portico. It is 7 ft. [2.1m] in length, 1 ft. 10 ins. [0.55m] across, 3 ft. 7 ins. [1.09m] high. It is awkward to pass through, and is rendered still more so by a sill of two stories set on edge, end to end, crossing the floor. This sill is 9 ins. [0.22m] high and 9 ins. [0.22m] broad, and is set at 3 feet [0.9m] from the inner end of the passage. On this sill we find conspicuous marks of wear, such as we also find at various places further in. The passage ends in a step downward, 1 ft. [0.3m] deep, leading into the next chamber, E. This is oval on plan, 10 ft. 7 ins. [3.2m] long and 5 ft. 7 ins. [1.7m] in maximum breadth. Only two of the roofing-lintels remained in position, giving a height of 5 ft. 1 in. [1.55m]. Two other lintels had fallen into the chamber, which was full of earth that had run into the opening thus made. In this earth filling was discovered part of an Anglo-Saxon saucer-brooch -the first of its kind to be found in Ireland - which was not only remarkable in itself, but gave a welcome, if insecure, hint at a date. The brooch dates from the sixth century A.D., which possibly may approximate to the date when the lintels collapsed. The floor of this chamber is irregular. To the south of the entrance doorway there is a kidney-shaped hollow sunk in the drift, 2 ft. 4 ins. [0.7m] across and about 1 ft. [0.3m] deep. It was nearly filled with a block of stone that lay within it. Both the entrance and the exit doorways are of an awkwardly small size. The first is of the dimensions of the passage that leads to it. The second is 3 feet [0.9m] high, 2 ft. 11 ins. [0.88m] across, and 2 ft. [0.6m] in length, with large blocks of stone serving as jambs. stones on which such marks of traffic would naturally be looked for. The exit doorway admits us into a short passage, F, the axis of which is at right angles to that of the chamber just left. At its western end there is a manhole, opening in the floor of the Post-hole Court just beside the post-holes. The floor under the manhole is 5 ft. [1.5m] beneath the surface of the ground. The breadth of the manhole is 2 ft. 11 ins. [0.88m] to the edge of the first lintel. This is a passage, G, approximately continuing the line of the fallen-in chamber, averaging about 3 ft. [0.9m] in breadth. The height is 4 ft. 8 ins. [1.42m], which reduces to 3 ft. [0.9m] near the inner end. From doorway to doorway the length is 11 ft. 9 ins. [3.58m] Just before reaching the exit doorway, the floor drops suddenly over a large block of stone to a depth 3 ft. [0.9m] below its previous level. The roofing-stones of this part of the souterrain are of considerable size. Immediately before the drop in the floor, there is an opening in the eastern wall, formed by the omission of one stone. Below it there is a projecting sill, shewing that the construction was intentional; apparently the purpose was to make a small cupboard, possibly for holding a lamp to illuminate this dangerous part of the cave. The exit doorway is 3 ft. 10 ins. [1.16m] high, 3 ft. [0.9m] across, and 2 ft. [0.6m] from front to back. The lintel is thus only slightly above the floor-level of this part of the passage leading to it. It gives access to a continuation of the passage, turned approximately at right angles to the line of the first portion. In the corner opposite we found a small pile of loose stones, but it concealed nothing. This part of the souterrain (H) is 14 ft. 9 ins. [4.5m] long and, at the outer end, 3 ft. 6 ins. [1.06m] broad and 5 ft. 6 ins. [1.67m] high. At the inner end the breadth is just over 3 ft. [0.9m] and the height 5 ft. 4 ins. [1.62m]. About the middle the breadth taken across the floor is 4 ft. 4 ins. [1.32m]; about 4 ft. [1.2m] above the floor the side walls, which approximate from the foundations, are shouldered out on the principle of the cantilever, and the clear breadth of the roof is not more than 1 ft. 5 ins. [0.43m]. Finally the passage turns once more through an angle, and runs for a length, K, of 11 ft. 6 ins. [3.6m]. At the angle, on the convex side, there is the opening of a second airshaft 3 ft. 6 ins. [1.06m] above ground, 9 ins. [0.22m] high, 1 ft. 3 ins. [0.38m] across; it runs for a length of 13 ft. [3.96m] to its outer exit. The passage ends abruptly at the inner end of this last section; the end is 4 ft. [1.2m] broad and slightly concave; the height above the floor is 5 ft. 7 ins. [1.7m]' (Macalister and Praeger 1929-31, 71-4). See attached plan of the souterrain taken from Macalister and Praeger 1929-31. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 12 August 2019