Editing Souterrain (section)

=== Other Irish souterrains ===
Souterrains often are referred to in Ireland simply as ‘caves.’ A. T. Lucas, a folklorist and director of the National Museum of Ireland in the 1960s, published a series of articles on the references to souterrains in the early [[Irish annals]].<ref>Lucas, A. T. (1971&ndash;1973). Souterrains: The Literary Evidence, ''Bealoideas'' '''39&ndash;41''', 165&ndash;191.</ref> [[Donaghmore Souterrain]], discovered in County Louth in 1960, and [[Drumlohan Souterrain and Ogham Stones|Drumlohan Souterrain]] in County Waterford are the only souterrains to be an Irish [[National Monument (Ireland)|National Monument]].

In Ireland, souterrains often are found inside or in close proximity to a [[ringfort]] and as such are thought to be mainly contemporary with them, making them somewhat later in date than in other countries. This date is reinforced by many examples where [[ogham]] stones dating to around the 6th century have been reused as roofing lintels or door posts, most notably at the widened natural limestone fissure at the ‘Cave of the Cats’ in [[Rathcrogan]]. The distribution of souterrains is very uneven in Ireland, with the greatest concentrations occurring in north Louth, north Antrim, south Galway, and west Cork and Kerry. Lesser numbers are found in counties Meath, Westmeath, Mayo, north Donegal, and Waterford. Other counties, such as Limerick, Carlow, and Wexford, are almost completely lacking in examples.<ref name=Clinton_2001>Clinton, M. (2001). ''The Souterrains of Ireland'', p.&nbsp;33. Wordwell, Bray.</ref>

An article by Warner on the archaeology of souterrains, although published {{Years ago|1979}} years ago, still is possibly the best general overview of the subject.<ref>Warner, R.B. (1979). The Irish souterrains and their background. In ''Subterranean Britain: aspects of underground archaeology,'' 100-144, (Ed) H. Crawford. London.</ref>

The most comprehensive study of Irish souterrains is M. Clinton's 2001 work, containing chapters on distribution, associated settlements, function, finds, chronology and 13 appendices on various structural aspects of souterrains.<ref name=Clinton_2001 />

A short summary account of souterrains in Ireland appeared in the quarterly magazine ''Archaeology Ireland'' in 2004.<ref>O'Sullivan, M. & Downey, L. (2004). Souterrains. ''Archaeology Ireland'', '''''70''''', 34&ndash;36, (Winter 2004).</ref>