Gleann na hUamha translates from the Irish as the valley of the cave, and somewhere within that Kerry landscape lies a souterrain, an underground stone-lined passage or chamber built, in most cases, during the early medieval period. That the place carries a name already referencing a cave or hollow in the ground, and that a souterrain sits within it, suggests a corner of Kerry where the land and its history have long been intertwined with what lies beneath the surface.

Souterrains are found across Ireland in considerable numbers, typically associated with early Christian-period settlements dating from roughly the sixth to the twelfth centuries. They were constructed by lining and roofing underground passages with stone, and their precise function is still debated; cold storage, refuge, or a combination of both are the most commonly proposed explanations. Many are found adjacent to ringforts, the circular enclosed farmsteads that were the dominant settlement type of early medieval rural Ireland. The specific history of this particular example, including who built it, when, and in what condition it survives, remains formally unrecorded in publicly available sources at this time.