Souterrain, An Bhánóg Theas, Co. Kerry
Co. Kerry |
Settlement Sites
On a south-facing slope at the head of a small valley in An Bhánóg Theas, on the Dingle Peninsula, there is a ringfort that may hold more beneath it than is visible on the surface.
Within its interior, a souterrain has been recorded, one of those narrow, stone-lined underground passages that were built during the early medieval period, most likely for storage or refuge. What makes this site quietly interesting is not just the souterrain itself, but the uncertainty surrounding everything else: two earthen features nearby resist confident explanation, which is itself a fairly honest summary of how archaeology often works.
A researcher named Ashe was the first to note the souterrain here. The site was later documented by J. Cuppage in the 1986 Corca Dhuibhne archaeological survey of the Dingle Peninsula. At that time, two additional features were observed: a low, L-shaped bank in the north-eastern sector of the ringfort, and a second raised area between that bank and the ringfort's outer bank. The L-shaped bank may have some connection to the souterrain, while the raised area could indicate a hut-site, the kind of simple domestic structure that once clustered inside ringforts across early medieval Ireland. Neither interpretation, however, has been confirmed. The site sits roughly 250 metres east of a related monument, suggesting this part of the valley was once a more populated, or at least more actively used, landscape than it appears today.