Victorian antiquarian Kinahan documented the presence of not one but possibly two souterrains here in the 1880s; underground passages that would have served as storage spaces or refuges for early medieval communities. Yet when Ordnance Survey cartographers arrived to map the area for their detailed 6-inch maps, they found no trace of these subterranean structures. The land, situated on prime agricultural soil on the southeast slope of a hill, had already undergone significant alterations by that time.

Archaeological investigations in the early 2000s attempted to relocate these elusive souterrains, particularly as the area was earmarked for residential development. In 2004, Mary Henry Archaeological Services monitored construction work for a new house near a megalithic tomb in the vicinity, but uncovered only evidence of historical cultivation patterns. A more targeted investigation followed in 2006 when Eoghan Kieran’s team excavated ten test trenches specifically at the recorded location of the souterrains before four houses were to be built. Despite systematic searching with mechanical excavators, they encountered only bedrock and boulder clay close to the surface, with no archaeological material whatsoever.

The disappearance of these souterrains remains unexplained; whether they were destroyed during agricultural improvements, misidentified by Kinahan, or simply await rediscovery beneath the Donegal soil. Their story forms part of the county’s rich archaeological record, documented in the comprehensive Archaeological Survey of County Donegal, which catalogues field antiquities from the Mesolithic period through to the 17th century. While the physical structures may have vanished, their presence in the historical record serves as a reminder of the hidden layers of history beneath Ireland’s pastoral landscapes.