At Spunkane, a location recorded on early Ordnance Survey maps as containing both a circular enclosure and a souterrain has quietly disappeared from the landscape, leaving behind little more than a scatter of field clearance stone and a tangle of vegetation.

The first edition of the OS map shows two distinct features: a circular enclosure with a souterrain positioned at its centre. A souterrain is an underground stone-lined passage or chamber, typically associated with early medieval settlement in Ireland, often used for storage or as a place of refuge. By the time the second edition of the map was produced, only the word 'Cave' remained, suggesting the enclosure had already ceased to register as a legible feature. The souterrain itself has since been infilled, according to local information, which means the underground element that gave the site its name is no longer accessible or even visible. What was once a coherent archaeological complex, a defined enclosure with a subterranean structure at its core, has been reduced to a toponym and a patch of disturbed ground.

The site as it stands today offers little to the casual eye. Dense vegetation and accumulated field clearance material mark the approximate location, the kind of low, scrubby disorder that tends to accumulate around places that have been neither cultivated nor actively maintained. The name 'Cave' persists on maps where the cave itself no longer does, which is perhaps the most curious thing about it.