Souterrain, Dromdoohig Beg, Co. Kerry
Co. Kerry |
Settlement Sites
Beneath a Kerry field, a blocked passage leads underground, its entrance marked, according to local knowledge, by nothing more conspicuous than a large limestone rock sitting in improved pasture.
This is a souterrain, an underground stone-lined tunnel or chamber built in early medieval Ireland, typically associated with ringforts and used for storage, refuge, or both. What makes the site at Dromdoohig Beg quietly compelling is how thoroughly the landscape above it has been reorganised, while the structure below almost certainly remains intact.
The souterrain sits within the eastern half of a ringfort, the kind of enclosed farmstead that was the standard unit of rural settlement in Ireland roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries. The ringfort itself is largely gone at ground level, levelled by centuries of agricultural improvement, though its outline can still be traced across the western half of the field. The contrast between old and current maps tells the story plainly: the first edition Ordnance Survey six-inch map, produced in the 1840s, shows the ringfort as a coherent feature, while later editions record the straightened field boundaries that now cut across the area, carving up what was once a single enclosed space. The earth and stone boundary running along the western edge may itself incorporate material from the original bank. The souterrain's opening has been blocked at some point, its location preserved in local memory rather than any visible monument.
