Souterrain, Keerglen, Co. Mayo

Co. Mayo |

Settlement Sites

Souterrain, Keerglen, Co. Mayo

At Keerglen in County Mayo, a shallow, rubble-filled depression in the floor of an old house hints at something that once lay beneath.

The depression is irregular in shape, and its significance is easy to miss entirely, but it may mark the collapsed remains of a souterrain, an underground stone-lined passage or chamber built during the early medieval period, most commonly associated with settlement sites and used for storage or concealment.

The house in question is subrectangular in plan and sits within the south-west quadrant of a rath, a type of circular or roughly circular earthwork enclosure that served as a farmstead during the early medieval centuries in Ireland. Raths are among the most common archaeological monument types in the Irish landscape, and it was not unusual for the households within them to include souterrains, though their exact functions remain a matter of some discussion among archaeologists. Here, the evidence is tentative. No intact passage has been confirmed, and what remains above ground is little more than a sunken irregularity in the earth, its interior choked with rubble. The relationship between the house and the enclosing rath places this modest feature within a recognisable pattern of early Irish rural settlement, even if the souterrain itself, if that is indeed what lies beneath, has long since fallen in on itself.

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, Keerglen, Co. Mayo. 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