Man-made underground passage in Spiddal

Located on top of a broad low hill in an undulating landscape. A beehive chamber of a complex Man-made underground passage (No. 2) (ME005-104----) was accidently discovered in December 1987, and the area was excavated (E000460) the following summer when a this Man-made underground passage came to light which proved to be earlier. No structures were associated with the Man-made underground passages and evidence of an enclosing bank or ditch was not encountered. The absence of an enclosure was confirmed by a resisitivity survey, and the Man-made underground passages were conserved by the landowner, presumably by closing. (Eogan 1990) This earlier Man-made underground passage (No. 1) consists of a passage (L 3m; Wth 0.8m; H 0.7-1.25m) entered at the E end by a vertical pit or shaft that was not detected in excavation. The passage leads W to a beehive chamber (diam. 3m; H 2m), which had a layer of silt on the floor. A shallow oval pit (dims 1.2m x 0.75m) was dug through this, indicating recent disturbance, probably in the eighteenth century. The entrance passage of souterrrain 2 (ME005-104----) was run through the short passage of this Man-made underground passage at a slightly higher level and incorporated its beehive chamber as a spur to the W. Primary finds, mostly from the passage, included a bone comb, fragment of a bronze escutcheon from a bowl, an iron chisel and an iron knife, suggesting that it could have been extant by the eight century. (Eogan 1990, 47-50) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 5 September 2018