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Some Ulster Souterrains. Author(s): Mary Hobson Source: The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 39 (Jan. - Jun., 1909), pp. 220-227 Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2843293 Accessed: 04-11-2015 18:17 UTC

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SOME ULSTER SOUTERRAINS.

BY MARY HOBSON.

FOR manyyears past I have lost few opportunitiesof visiting and measuringany souterrainsof which I have heard. The sutmtotal is not so great as at firstmight be expected,owing to our very wet climate. So many are situated far from a railway stationi,occasionally in almost inaccessible places, and being undergroundare subject to flooding,somne of which never dry up and are consequentlyinmpossible to enter, others I have waited for months to see, and again great nuimbersare closed, the entrances lost, and even their existence forgotten. I have been able to tell people that one existed on theirown land. I have carefullymeasured all that I shall have occasion to mentionand made sketchesand taken photographsof some entrances. The measured drawings are by Florence F. iobson. I need hardlysay that souterrainis the nlame that we give to artificialunderground in Ireland. They are buiiltof unhewn field stones and take the formof narrowchambers and long passages roofedover with large flag stones and are absolutely devoid of mortar. I shall deal alnmost exclusivelywith those in the two counties of Antrim and Down. Farther south a circulartype of structureoccurs. I have said that theyare underground. That is so except in an earthenfort and in rare cases wherethe earthhas been removed. One is always struckby the smallnessof the entrances(which are most cunningly concealed) and also of the doorways between one chamber and another; almost always one has to lie down flat and creep through,and some I have been in are too smnallto admit the widthof shoulderof an average sized man, a point I shall draw atten- / 4,., ZfTOYZCILAWE tion to later. The structuresare quite dark and of an even temperatureall the year round. They are near the surface and I have never come across any bad air. I will take the Antrimcaves first. At the 1 fa LA footof Knockdhu,a hill overlookingthe coast- road fromLarne, is a souterraincontaining six chamberswith a lengthof 87 feet exclusiveof IStGae oI a floodedchamber (Fig. 1). Again and again I am struck by the frequencywith which prehistoricmolnuments

FIG. I. are foundquite near to the caves; in this case

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we have a aiant's grave 32 feetlong, a standingstone 17 feet9 incheshigh, a second giant's grave,a kistvaen,etc. A small but perfect occurs at Crebillynear Ballymena; it containstwo chambers. At Shankbridgeis a finefort known as Fort Hill, and in it a cave. The first chamberis 10 feetlong and 5 feethigh, second chamber15 feetlong, and near the far end on the rightis one of the low doorwaysleading to anotherclhamnber which is flooded; it is probablethat this structureruns right throughthe fort,as on the oppositeside is what looks like anotherentrance. On the road to Crumlin fromBelfast is LisnataylorFort. The cave in it

FORT oF- R055

., ~| i - f e

~~~FORT ~~~~

A~~~~~

| / I ~~~~/lie ENTRAtiCF 5O ErO

P LA l L*P$ Bf PLAM

FIG. 2. containsonly a single chamber10 feetlong, 4 feetto 4 feet 6 incheswide, height 3 to 4 feet; the coveringstone at entrance is 2 feet 6 inches on the under-side, heightof entranceis 2 feet. The districtround Connor is honeycombedwith souterrains. Two in the churchyardwere measured years ago and reportedill an Ulster Archaeological Journal. In one day I visited and measured no less than four,Tanneybrack, Ballycown,Fort of Ross (Fig. 2) and Shankbridge(Fig. 3). This cave is a very perfectone and quiite dry. It has almost the smallest opening I have been through. The firstchamber is 15 feet long, 3 feet 9 inches high,second chamber 19 feet 6 inches long and 4 feet 6 inches high, the last doorwayis 17 by 17 inches,and proveda perfectfit; last chamber16 feet 6 inches long and about 3 feethigh.

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The one case of two dis- tinct stories,one partly over the other, is at Bog Head, Muckamore. This was acci- denitallydiscovered, and we have not yet found the originalentrance. The dinien- sions are: a sort of vestibule 5 feet 6 inches long; a low doorway 2 feet 7 inches by ID3 1 foot7 inches,chamber 7 feet by 4 feetand 5 feet high. A hole in.the floor2 feet 6 inches 2 2 inches admits to ,jE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1 by feet the lower chamlber 19 feet 2 inches lono, 3 feet 3 inches to 5 feet 2 inches wide. Again another doorway,but now choked up. Both these floorshlave been dugover by the Rev. W. A. Adams of Antrim, A and have yielded potteryof

FIG. 3. a very primitive descriptioni, nost likely domestic. In co. Antrimthere are certaindiversities in structurewhich are not comne across in Down. At Donegore the entranceis largeanrd looks like a naturalcave, but the interior has been scoopedout of the rock (basaltic aslh), and has anotherchamber on higher level: the entrance cave is 5 feet 4 inches high,8 feet Ctltoci- ot 3 inches long,the uipwardtunnel 20 feet lolng, entrance31 inches wide (Fig. 4). In the same district,at Ballymartin,is anotherof exactlythe same type,cut out of the / , f~ face of a cliffoverhanging the river,but this . , e 11did has a roofof large stones placed across in the usual way. This souterrainhas four chambers < ~~~~~~~~~r,O so rising,in heightthat at the end one is alimiost in a standingposition. The lengths are: first chamber8 feet,second chamber 17 feet,third 7 feet 6 inches, the doorway 5 feet, and the last chamber is 7 feet, total lengyth Lrbra~7nce +; 44 feet6 inches (Fig. 5). FIG, 4,

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Others of smaller proportionsare, one at Liminarydiscovered in June, 1904, containing three perfectchambers, one 15 feet long and 5 feethigh. One near the " Altar in the Woods," Glendun, with one chamber only. One near II/ Tornamona Cashel, Cushlake, on the face of the cliffsoverhanging the sea, a quite perilous place to reach. At Tavenahoney in Glenan I found the VI only vent or shaftI have seen, thoughI know of another. I am not sure that it was 0 'Ill PI~AXN intended for ventilation,but rather incline 'I

8lep 4 'Pet h/eb /8 Lnches w'd e Q

l, i a 1?- tr I r*t~ ~ FG 5.

FIG. 5.

m ~5i0" (7/'on abouk v it is a speaking rznt4ycuzt *- m I ,3'0" O/de e to the idea that c/ the,ocxA 31 tube to give warning to those inside; a boy spoke to me throuLgh it. It was closed on the outside by a rough stone like tliousands scatteredover the hillside. There are two shortchambers.

t2ft?@q;e/^ lSbl'@def At Bushmills and Giant's Causeway I found two caves, X B o~cnd20 tn. hi7 one built of rocks in situ, and filled between artificially,with the only guard-chamnberI know of (threerocks forming a triangle); just withinthe entrancesome tuni- fntoa%ce o X oX 2 Peet SdQwdndco nellinghas been cleverly done in 2L%-6vz/.z b tL *he Idc Open ui the rock; at the Giant's Causeway C7OOUI78/d6/? near the P.O. tunnelliinghas also been done (Fig. 6). /0 20 0 The structuresin co. Down

FIG. 6 while not showingthe diversities

This content downloaded from 129.93.16.3 on Wed, 04 Nov 2015 18:17:23 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 224 MARY HOBSON.-SoMne UlsterSo&terrains. of Antrim,i.e., two stories, tunnelling,etc., are much longer. We will take a few of the moreimportant. At Ballygrainey(the town of the sunnypalace) near Craigavad Station and withina fewmiles of Belfast is a very fine one, 70 feet 6 inches in length,and containingfour chambers; the firstbeing 16 feet 6 inches long,5 feet3 inches wide and 5 feet 3 inches high; to the right of entrance a passage 19 feet long, 15 inichesand upwards in width, and the height of which varies from2 feet 20 inches, the low doorwayto chamber oIn the left (from entrancechamber) is

..

.S5CTION TMRO' CELLAR' PLAN 1!

Chamiber N?2 t0 5 0 0 _ 0 3 4? et I . reel- '

FIGI. '7.

42 inches wide and 5 feet long, and just high enough to get through,the second chamberis 15 feetlong, 5 to 8 feetwide, third chamber 15 feetlong, 4 feet6 inches high (Fig. 7). At Cove Hill, near Rathmullanon DunldrumlBay, the cave is 120 feet long, 3 feetwide and 6 feet high,with a transverseterminal chamber14 feet by 5 feet. It has verycurious barriers a -v 2 to 3 feet high (Fig. 8), as also has one a few nmiles 5EcrIONThRLf A ARRIER distant. This neighbourhoodis richin a fine stone FIG. 8. circle, standingstones, cromleacs, kitchen-, etc. Half a mile away I foundat Clanmagoryanother, 54 feetlong. I asked had it ever been visitedand was told once years ago by a very thin young man I Oiie could well believe it (Fig. 9). At Slanes, near Cloughy,is a veryfine structureabout 90 feetlong. I found

This content downloaded from 129.93.16.3 on Wed, 04 Nov 2015 18:17:23 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions MARY HOBSON.-Some UlsterSouterratins. 225 it floodedoni the occasionof my first ft SoVTE:RmRAAIM two visits and only on the thirddid I reach the end (Fig. 10). SI CLAMI%AREP%Y The cave at Ardtole, near -YRe:LL-r-A[t M Ardglass,is 118 feet 3 inches in length,with a transverseterminal chamber. On the slopes of Slieve Croob, * ___ /0 one of the Mourne Range, is one of the finest cromleacs in the country, known as Legananny cromleac,the cap-stone of which is 11 feet long; not far away, at the foot of Slieve - na - Boley, is the I g. PLAI- longest cave I have seen in the two counties. The entrance is very small; one feared to stick fast in ~~~~ it and run the risk of displacing VI~ .1f.49 Fo the stones; in such an event en- tombment would surely follow (Fig. 11). I? * l_ Recently I visited the cham- bered tumuli on the Lougherew FIGI. 9. Hills in Meath. Quite near to them is a large souterrainwith nio verysmnall openings, one passage ending in a great circular chamber,each course overlapping until closed by a single stone. A circular cave is in a fort at Lucan, co. Dublin; it is 10 feet in diameter and the same height. I have come across no structureof this shape in the north of Ireland except one now demolishedwhich was really a ; this type of

6(iil Ihv xl e-r 4

FIG. 10. VOL. XXXIX. Q

This content downloaded from 129.93.16.3 on Wed, 04 Nov 2015 18:17:23 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 226 MARY HOBSON.-SoMne UlsterSoutercrains. souterrain seems to me a linlk wit-hthe chambered tumuli at New Grange, Lougherew,etc., though the latter are built of larger stones. In plan there is every diversity,some are mere passages, one is like the letterF, anotherlike r, another the shape of an inflatedstocking, some circular,an elongatedW, and a crescent,etc., etc. Nowhere are the entrancesoriented, but one thing is certain, it is almost impossible to get a good photographof one in the nmiddlehours of the day. I should like to say somethingof traditioniin relationto the structures. The building of them is nearly always attributedto the " Danes," the " Fairies," the " Good People,,'or in rare instancesto the Picts. The Danes here referredto are not the miiodernDanes, but probablythe TuLatha-da-Danaan,a people who are said to have lived in Ireland before the conminigof the . They are the " Fairies,"and are said to have been of small stature,like "children,"the country people will tell one. Innumerable are the tales of how a person's grandfatherhas seen them literally disappearinto the earth and the hiillsides,and how, even to-day,misfortune always follows the meddlilng with a cave, the cutting of a fairy thorn,or the

2i '6@ F removalof an earthen fort. Fairly educated people

a_.1.. SCL give instances,anid will say they" don't altogether believe in it," yet theyknow of people dying within 14 t the year, their childrenbeing dwarfed,misfortune coming upon their cattle, etc.,and veryfew people, even city-f'olk,will venture inlto these caves or palaces, anid no wonder, for they are weird and uncanny,always enveloped in an awesomiiegloom.

FIG.11 When creeping,through the tiny doorways,if alone, one needs to summonisonie little courage. To superstitionwe may attributetheir preservatioiiin such numbersto-day; once that feardies (it is only a questionof time) theywill disappear,for the owniers will close or break them. The firstinstance of an Ogam inscriptionbeing found in Ulsterwas atCarncomb, nearConnor, a fewyears ago by the Rev. W. P. Carmody,B.A.; it was onithe roofing stones,but so rubbedor weatheredbefore being placed therethat it was extremely difficultto deciplher. Readings were made by Prof. Rhys anld the late Dr. Buick, the formertook it to be " Caig,son of Fobrach,"a miemorialto one wlhoeducated and baptizedSt. Cadoc, one of the early Fathers of the Church,thus bringingthe age of this souterrainwell on into Christiantimnes (a secondinscription is still in the cave). This is the seveniteenthinstanice of Ogams discoveredin these structuresin Ireland. Thoughniany souterrains miay be of fairantiquity (judging by modeof construction, no mortarand no traceof arch,etc.), it is likely that some were builtin morerecent times. It is recordedthat DonougyhCairbreach O'Brien in A.D. 1242 builtforts and

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Brian Bornirepaired many iil which very probablycaves occurred. We read that in 1317 " Donchad O'Brien beforethe battle of Corcomroe" summiionedevery man living,in an " ooam" (cave) to his arnmy(MacRitchie). Duringthe rebellionof 1798 the rebels took refugein them; I know of several with this record. Perhapsin Ireland no typeof structure,whether for the livingor the dead, has been so long in occupation,so long a thing made use of, more so even than the chamberedtumulus, the cromleac,the kistvaen,the crannog,the bee-hive cell, or the Normankeep; even to-daythe moderntramp does not disdain to spend a night in one of the ouiterchambers when it is big enough to admit him, and everyonie knows that the fairies of Ireland never forsookthern and still continueto hold high revel in them.

Q2

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