Souterrain, Barrack, Co. Kerry

Co. Kerry |

Settlement Sites

Souterrain, Barrack, Co. Kerry

On a stretch of fairly level ground about 750 metres south of Brandon Bay on the Dingle Peninsula, there once sat a small stone enclosure with something unexpected beneath it: not just one underground passage, but what was described as a warren of souterrains.

Souterrains are dry-stone tunnels built during the early medieval period in Ireland, typically used for cool storage, refuge, or both. The idea of a warren of them, branching and interconnecting under a modest field, hints at a site considerably more elaborate than its surface appearance would have suggested.

The enclosure itself was recorded as a cashel, a type of early medieval farmstead enclosed by a circular stone wall, and the landowner who knew it described it simply as a circular heap of stones with a small cave inside. A field club visiting in 1945 noted its presence, along with those subterranean passages. By the time more systematic archaeological attention arrived through Julia Cuppage's 1986 survey of the Corca Dhuibhne region, the site had already been catalogued, though its significance was only partially understood. What finished it off entirely was not neglect or erosion but deliberate clearance: local information recorded that the structure was levelled roughly a decade before the survey was updated, the stones presumably dispersed or reused. The stony debris that remained was itself the main clue pointing to a cashel rather than an earthen ringfort, since cashels were built of unmortared stone rather than raised banks of soil.

Nothing remains to visit now. The site exists only in field notes, in Cuppage's survey, and in the memory of a landowner who once walked around a circular heap of stones and looked into a small cave at its centre, without quite knowing what lay beneath.

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, Barrack, 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