Souterrain, An Gabhlán Thoir, Co. Kerry

Co. Kerry |

Settlement Sites

Souterrain, An Gabhlán Thoir, Co. Kerry

On a gentle south-east facing slope at the foot of the Dingle Peninsula's central mountain range, overlooking the valley of the Owenalondrig River, a low break in a stone wall is just wide enough to admit a person sideways.

That gap, half a metre high and not quite a metre across, is the current way into an early medieval souterrain, an underground stone-lined passage or chamber typically used for storage, refuge, or both, that has been sitting quietly in rough pasture here for well over a thousand years. The debris piled both inside the chamber and on top of the structure outside suggests someone excavated it deliberately at some point, though when and why remains unknown.

The structure is roughly L-shaped in plan. Its main element is a single D-shaped chamber, running north to south, measuring 2.45 metres long and 1.3 metres wide, with a maximum height of 1.5 metres. Three roofing slabs span the top, and the upper two or three courses of the drystone walls are corbelled inwards, a technique where successive stone layers are stepped gradually toward the centre, narrowing the chamber at roof level to around 0.9 metres. At the north end of the east wall, a creepway, a deliberately tight connecting passage designed so that only one person at a time could pass through it, leads into a second section running east to west. This passage is at least four metres long, its walls built from upright slabs overlain with drystone courses. The eastern end is choked with accumulated fill, which has raised the passage floor on a slope toward that end. A small hole is visible in the roof at this point, though it is unclear whether it marks the original entrance or whether the passage continues further eastward, still buried. That uncertainty is part of what gives the site its particular quality: it remains genuinely unresolved, a structure not fully understood even by those who have studied it closely. The description of the souterrain was first recorded in J. Cuppage's 1986 Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey of the Corca Dhuibhne region.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Souterrain, An Gabhlán Thoir, Co. Kerry. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement