Souterrain, Kilconnell, Co. Tipperary

Co. Tipperary |

Settlement Sites

Souterrain, Kilconnell, Co. Tipperary

Beneath a field of lush, ungrazed pasture in Kilconnell, County Tipperary, lies a stone-arched underground passage that almost nobody knows about, including the people who live nearby.

It sits within a bawn, an enclosed defensive courtyard of the kind typically built around late medieval tower houses, and leaves no mark whatsoever at the surface. It was backfilled, presumably for safety, and has sat quietly underground ever since.

The structure came to light briefly in 1935, when an underground passage was uncovered and partially opened. A letter dated 22nd April of that year describes what those who looked inside found: a chamber roughly 3.6 metres by 1.8 metres, about 1.8 metres deep, with a roof arched like a bridge and side walls set between 1.2 and 1.5 metres apart. The mortar, whoever wrote the letter noted, was very hard and obviously old. A second account adds that the arch itself began about 1.2 metres below ground, constructed from long stones set in mortar. No archaeological inspection was carried out at the time. A souterrain, to give a general explanation of the term, is a man-made underground passage or chamber, typically built from dry stone or mortared masonry, and associated in Ireland with both early medieval settlements and later tower house complexes. The description from 1935 fits that tradition closely enough that the identification seems reasonable, even without a formal excavation to confirm it. The structure sits approximately ten metres from a tower house, placing it neatly within the defensive and domestic landscape of a fortified medieval farmstead.

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Pete F
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