Vernacular Cottage Part Four. Artefacts.

Household items:

Washing your clothes in days gone by was not as easy as it is today. The woman of the house had to use the tub and wash board. She would have a big chunk of green soap (fairy) and buckets of water that she had to heat on the range (before the range it would be over the open fire). Getting water was very labour intensive as she had to go to the well and pump. She would soak the clothes then rub soap on them and then scrub them up and down the wash board until she had a good lather then plunge them into the water. She would eventually be able to put the washing through the rollers of the wringer and in summer hang them outside either on a line or over the Whin bushes (Gorse). The thorns stopped the clothes from blowing away in the breeze.

Ironing your clothes was done with a flat iron, this was heated over the open fire or on the range. They were made from cast iron and heavy to use. You would need a few of them because as you used one you had others heating up. The normal way to test how hot they were was to spit on them. Eventually the flat iron was replaced with the box iron. This was a hollow type that was filled with hot embers or a piece of red hot metal that had been heated in the fire. It had a lift up door in the back into which the hot material was placed and if you were careful you could use a small pair of bellows to blow air in to increase the heat.

In many of the old vernacular cottages there was no bathroom so bath night was in front of the fireplace. This was done in a tin bath, often on a Saturday night so you were nice and clean for Sunday when every child was dragged off to church. Again water had to be carried from the well and heated over the fire or on the range so it might have been used for more than one child.

Many homes in rural areas did not have an inside toilet until well into the Twentieth Century. This meant a long trek out into the garden to use a dry toilet. This was a particular problem at night when it was not easy to find your way in the dark. The solution to this was to use a chamber pot. The chamber pot also had another name “The gozunda” because it goes under the bed.

A cobbler’s last was owned by every house and this was used to either make or repair the family’s shoes.

Oil lamps and Rushlights that also had a candle holder attached were used to supply light before electrification came to rural Ireland.

A common sight in old cottages would be the slabs of cured or smoked bacon hanging from the rafters. The way you ‘smoked’ the bacon was by hanging it on a metal hook up the chimney stack, the bacon was then cured by the rising wood smoke from the fire. I suppose it might even be at the mercy of the turf smoke?

Image One: An early washing machine??
Image Two: Slabs of smoked or cured bacon hanging from the rafters.
Image Three: A flat iron.
Image Four: A cobbler's last.
Image five: A chamber pot or gozunda??

Vernacular Cottages Part Three. A labourer's Byre House.

17th century labourer’s vernacular byre cottage in the west of Ireland.

Although cottages came in many sizes, they were all only one room deep. The length of the timbers available for the roof determined the width of the house. For many inhabitants of coastal areas and islands, the primary source of rafters was timber washed ashore from the wrecks of ships. The houses were simple with clay floors, sparse furniture and small windows.

The byre dwelling was a cottage that was shared with the animals. A cow, a few chickens, a duck or two or a goose if they could afford one and a pig to pay the rent. Livestock were an extremely valuable asset to poorer farmers so they kept them within their dwelling. Usually built on a slope or at least with sloped floors with the animals on the lower end so their effluent would run away from the living quarters. This arrangement meant the animals were close at hand if there were any problems or the weather was too poor to tend them and they also benefited from the heat of the fireplace.

Labourers, worked not for money but in return for the right to a small plot of land, known as ‘conacre’, on which they could grow enough potatoes to feed their family and some winter feed for the animals.. By spring several tons of manure would be removed from the byre and used as fertiliser on their small plot.

A writer of the time describes vividly the conditions in which they lived:

The master never fed a labourer…it was on the contrary a chief object with him to keep such a person as far away from his dwelling as possible. He therefore allowed him to occupy, at some remote corner of his farm, a miserable hut, a mere shell, formed of mud or sods, without loft, apartment or partition and sometimes without any other covering than that of straw or any chimney than the door. In one corner of this hovel was lodged his cow, while in the opposite were his wife, his children and himself.

To us this combined dwelling house and cattle byre might represent extremely grim living conditions, but it probably wasn't as unhealthy as we might imagine. After a while the smell would not be noticed and throughout the winter the animals provided a certain amount of heat. It would be wrong to imagine that these people cared any less about hygiene than we do - standards were simply different. The practice of housing people and animals together links the west of Ireland with the rest of the Atlantic fringe of Europe - the same arrangement is found in Scandinavia, Scotland, Brittany and Galicia.

Water was supplied to cottages by means of a well that would be located by a diviner. A diviner uses a hazel forked twig to determine where spring water is to be found, it’s a skill that is said to be in the hands as only some people can feel the energies of the earth keenly enough to follow them. Once located it was the duty of the woman of the house to bring buckets of water from the well each day for drinking and cooking. Water for washing clothes, floors and general domestic and farm duties came mostly from the rainwater collected in barrels at the ends of the thatch.

Light was provided from the hearth and also from burning rushes dipped in fish oils, the smell was horrendous and the light fleeting. Candles were more expensive and sometimes difficult to come by, they were preserved for good occasions and were often used as a method of barter.

The bed in the ‘Out shot’ or ‘Cailleach’ was very short but this was not because people were very small compared to today. It was for a far more practical reason, it was because of the fear of TB. It was believed by the people of the time that it was healthier to sleep sitting up supported by bolsters or pillows.
The diet of the labourer and his family was simple, mainly bacon, cabbage and potatoes, with all the cooking being done on the open fire. Sometimes, Galway and Mayo being fine fishing counties, there was fish.

Milk was available from their house cow, with oatmeal replacing or supplementing potatoes when they were scarce. They also ate what they could forage in the wild – berries, nuts, nettles, wild mushrooms and now and then a rabbit or bird. However these were all occasional rather than regularly eaten foodstuffs. Another traditional food of the time was black pudding, made from a mixture of cow’s blood and oatmeal. The blood was provided by the occasional bleeding of their cow. Sounds awful but this provided much needed protein without killing their valuable animal.

Poorer people either produced their own food or obtained it by foraging or hunting. Outside of towns and villages, little or none was purchased in shops, even when these began to appear, for there was no money available and what there was paid the rent.

While the potato provided enough food to allow the poor to survive and grow in number, it also caused their diet to become very narrow and restricted, a massive change from the varied diet eaten in earlier times and, as would become clear, a very dangerous dependence. By the mid seventeenth century the potato had become the main food and consumption reached eight pounds per person per day. It was easy to grow, a small plot could provide enough to feed a small family and it was very nutritious and filling.

Irish Vernacular Cottage. Part Two.

Vernacular Cottages Part Two.

Beds:

Beds varied in design from a basic wooden box type structure with a straw mattress to other more elaborate set ups. Irish country life was and is built around the family and it was considered normal for a son or daughter to get married and share a house with elderly parents, who invariable slept in the warmest place. This was usually next to the hearth or fireplace and was known as the ‘Outshot’ or ‘Cailleach’ (See previous post).

There may also have been a ‘Settle Bed’, this was a very clever contraption for during the day it acted a a seat and at night it could be folded down to act as a bed. It was usually made by a local carpenter and could be any size you wished in order to accommodate family members. In the old cottages it may also have been used to accommodate the casual visitor (if not required by the family). Part of the folklore mentions that people used to regularly wash down the wooden frames with lime wash to aid in the prevention of diseases such as cholera. Don’t forget that in Ireland it was common to keep a burning lamp or candle in the window to guide wayward travellers. In many ways the old settle bed was the forerunner of the modern bed settee.

The Dresser:

The dresser was and probably still is one of the most important bits of domestic furniture as it was used to display the wealth and status of the household. The upper section would be used to display the ceramics (we use ours for blue and white willow pattern) and mementos. There are normally two drawers under which there will be two cupboards. The dresser was a great place for storage (still is) and was used for pots and pans and butter making utensils. A variation that you don’t see in the cottage anymore (thank the god’s, because of the smell) was the coop dresser, which used the bottom compartments to house chickens. This warm and safe environment ensured that eggs were always available throughout the year. Having the hens inside meant that you always knew where the eggs were when the hens had finished laying. This also prevented the hens laying in the hedgerows or up in the thatch of the roof and it also stopped arguments with your neighbours over whose chicken the egg belonged to. Chicken coops of this type were first noted in the inventories of the large country houses of the 17th and 18th century.

The Fireplace and the Fire Crane:

The fireplace was and still is the heart and soul of the cottage. It is a place where people gather and where life revolves. A place for reading, sewing, heat, and story telling. The focal point of the cottage. The fire was never allowed to go out, ashes were spread over the embers to “keep them in” until the morning. There is an old saying in Irish, “Nil aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin”, translated it means “There is no fire like your own fire” and in a way this illustrates the importance we place on the hearth. On the interior wall of the Inglenook firplace we used to have hung the Fire Crane, this was an ingenious method that was used to suspend cooking pots over the open fire. We still have ours (it’s in one of the barns), no longer used in modern cottages as we have replaced the open fire with a wood burning stove. Cottages today have Stanley Ranges (you may call them an AGA?) and modern cooking facilities.

The Butter Churn:

Every cottage in the country would have had its own butter churn and these would be of various designs. Here are the two most common ones.

The Dash Churn:

This was a common type which was very strong and made in a conical shape with a splayed neck into which a lid was fitted. The cream was then agitated by a wooden dash provided with a long handle which passed through a hole in the centre of the lid.

The Cylinder Churn:

In this smaller churn the cream was agitated by a wooden frame by turning a crank handle. When it was first introduced it immediately became popular with the domestic family. It had a limited capacity so was not really suitable for use by the larger farmer who may have been involved in the production of butter for sale. Our cylinder churn now sits on the top of one of the kitchen presses (cupboards) and serves an ornamental purpose.

When churning butter everyone was expected to take a turn, a refusal would bring down a curse from the fairie folk and great misfortune on the poor unfortunate who refused.

The manufacture of these churns was carried out by the local cooper (barrel maker).

1st image Coop Dresser.
2nd image Bed Settle.
3rd image Fire Crane.
4th image Cylinder Churn.
5th image Dash Churn.

Vernacular (traditional) Irish Cottage. Part One.

The Vernacular house in Ireland.

The vernacular houses of the north, southern and west of Ireland were almost always single storied although in some places a second storey may have been added in more prosperous times. This would have been more common in the east and the midlands. Even in the villages and towns, the single storied cottage often lined the streets, and a few of these early, traditional houses although rare still survive. The small single storey house with a thatched roof remained the dwelling of the ordinary family.

The traditional house of the remote west was moulded by the rugged landscape and the ferocity of the Atlantic weather. Rectangular, narrow and just one room deep, the narrow plan was mainly due to the scarcity of timbers for roofing and since only relatively thin poles or timbers salvaged from the ocean and sea shore were available, the roof spans were small. The cottages hug the landscape and seem to be part of it. Thatched roofs held down by ropes tied to pegs which are hammered into the walls or tied to heavy stones to protect them from the fierce Atlantic winds. These days a lot of the old thatched roofs have been replaced with slate.

A feature of the vernacular cottage in the North West and west of Ireland is the outshot bed; this is where a projection in the wall next to the hearth/fireplace would accommodate a small bed which was further protected from draught by a curtain. It was here that the Grandmother would sleep and here she would be snug and warm. In Mayo we call this the “Cailleach”, not a very flattering term as it means Old hag (don’t blame me). This bed was beneficial in other ways for if the older member of the family became bedridden they could still play an important role in the social and domestic fabric of the household. We should remember that their advice and skills were invaluable and they generally possessed a treasure trove of stories, an art that sadly is fast disappearing in the age of technology. Also and in some ways more importantly it showed them that they still mattered, they were still loved.

The vernacular cottage was always built of rough stone or stone and mud and in later years they would be lime-washed or plastered and then lime-washed (also known as white-wash) and they stood out against the backdrop of the landscape.

It was common for the back door to be opposite the front door and this made it easier to sweep the floor in windy weather (you opened the door on the calm side). The front door was usually a half door and this had the advantage of allowing in more daylight into the large central living room and also kept the animals out (farmyard and poultry). It also allowed conversation with passers-by.

Windows were small and of the up and down sash type with wide interior sills due to the thickness of the walls.

Early cottages did not have any foundations and the floors are usually finished in rammed earth, slate or stone flag, or tiles. These days it is common to find cement or concrete floors with a floating floor of timber unless you have been extremely lucky and have managed to find one with the original flagged floor.

The main fireplace in the central room is large and open of the inglenook type with a large stone or timber lintel, usually a ships timber salvaged from the sea shore. Today it is usual to find a wood stove set in the opening but it would have had an open fire over which you would swing a fire crane, on this you would hang an iron cooking pot or kettle.

On either side of the large central room there would have been larger rooms. In our cottage we have divided one of these into two bedrooms with independent doors. All these rooms have open fires although there is also the addition of modern day central heating throughout. We have the addition of a small extension which serves as a galley kitchen and a further small extension that serves as a shower room and toilet room.

Most vernacular cottages were built into the landscape, usually protected by a hill or some other natural feature, although groundwater running down the hill inevitably led to damp.

These types of cottages are fast disappearing from the Irish country side as more and more people buy them only for the site they sit on, They then knock them down only to build a modern style house. Now I’ve nothing against freedom of choice (how on earth do some of these monstrosities get planning permission?). However, I do believe that our cottage has character, an old world charm, it has soul representing our history and heritage and it doesn’t intrude on the landscape like some of those modern Spanish style mansions built not as homes but as B&Bs where the kids are put in the garage or loft for the holiday season as their rooms are worth euro’s (I’m not suggesting their all like that).

I will be fair though and say that in times gone by our ancestors must have looked out of their round houses and thought “How on earth did they get planning permission?”

Finally, one thing I have noticed about the type of people who buy and renovate these old cottages to live in. They are all quite similar (the ones I know anyway). They love their cottages, the heritage and history, the character and quirkiness. They usually grow their own or love organic gardening and are environmentally aware. I don’t intend to generalise and if you own and live in a vernacular cottage and are totally opposite to those I have described than “No offence intended”.

I will add a couple more posts that will cover the folklore of the Irish cottage and some of the artefacts that would have been used in days gone by so I hope that like me it may give you an insight into a dying tradition.

The bottom image is of our cottage in County Mayo.

Irish Caves. The Cave of The Seven Sisters.

Irish Caves.

The ‘Irish Cave Archaeology Project’ is prompted by finds already made, including human bones ranging from small body parts to full skeletons of men, women and children; jewellery made from shell, amber and bone; the remains of sacrificed newborn calves, lambs and piglets. Folklore traditions reveal that caves were seen as places of ghosts and ghouls, gateways to the Otherworld or a home for a supernatural woman that preyed on mortal men.

With uses varying from burial chambers to places to live, caves in Ireland have a diverse history and usage. ‘People have been using caves around Ireland for almost 10,000 years. In the 19th and 20th centuries, some were documented by antiquarians looking for bones of extinct animals such as woolly mammoth, bears and Arctic lemmings. They also turned up human bones and artifact’s many of archaeological significance. More recently, cavers have discovered and explored caves all over the country. These caves open up for us a cultural, religious and physical history dating back through prehistoric, medieval and modern times.’

Evidence indicates that for about 8,000 years, caves were used mostly for religious activities. These deep dark, often sacred, places were associated with death and the ‘Otherworld’. They were used for excarnation, where a corpse was left to fully decompose prior to the bones being removed for burial. Often small bones and beads were left behind, to be found thousands of years later. Caves were also used for burial, with extensive finds already documented in Co Waterford. During the Bronze Age, caves were used for burying high ranking individuals. In 1805, a skeleton covered in small sheets of gold was discovered in a cave in Co Cork. Burial traditions with offerings continued into the Iron Age. At caves in Co Sligo, human teeth were placed in the caves, possibly associated with the annual harvest festival of Lughnasa.

The coming of Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century AD saw major changes in how caves were used and perceived. For the first time, there was extensive occupation of caves, as they became home to individuals, possibly travelling laborers or craft workers. It is likely that the association between caves and death and the Otherworld was largely destroyed by the Church.


The Cave of the Seven Sisters:

The origin of the following tale is to be found in the small village of Ballybunion a few miles from Kerry Head. The cliffs rise up from the sea to heights well over a hundred feet and these are peppered with caves into which the sea rushes with a terrible fury in winter. This coast line is open to the full force of the Atlantic storms and it was usual to find the dead bodies of various unfortunate creatures washed up on the shore.

On the edge of one of these cliffs there stands the ruin of a castle. All that remains of it now is the basement standing against the force of the wind and waves like some lonely sentinel.

According to local legend, this castle was the home of a chieftain around about the time of the invasions by the Vikings. He was the father of seven beautiful daughters, a brave warrior with a great hatred of those who would invade his land. He seemed to always have his sword in his hand and night and day his ships patrolled the coast watching for any sign of the piratical Vikings who might threaten his people.

There came a day when a sail was spotted in the distance and as it came nearer the chieftain saw the vessel displayed the standard of a Viking marauder. Immediately it was surrounded by the Irish ships and despite putting up a fierce fight it was captured. As was the custom of the chieftain, he had the crew that had survived the initial attack killed and thrown overboard with the exception of the captain and his six brothers as he had a special more painful death planned for them.

They were brought to the castle and there they had their wounds dressed and as they had no way to escape they were allowed freedom within the castle walls. Of course the seven captured men soon spotted the seven beautiful Irish maidens and as they were starved of male affection they soon fell under the spell of the Vikings and agreed to aid their escape and run off to the Viking homeland.

All was set, a stormy night in winter was chosen, and there was not a star in the sky. A cold wind blew in from the sea bringing with it a torrential rain, the waves crashed against amidst the caves below. Using a rope ladder they escaped over the battlements and down to the ground but when they had all descended to their horror they were surrounded by armed men who had been hiding amongst the rocks.

No one said a word, they knew it was hopeless for it was obvious who these armed warriors were. Taken back into the castle they came face to face with the chieftain. With a look of anger and hatred he pointed to his seven daughters and gave a command to his captain of the guard. The man recoiled in disbelief his face had a look of horror, recovering, he whispered in the ear of his chieftain but the face of the chieftain told all there that his order would not be changed and with a look of hatred he repeated the order turned to the door and stormed out of the room without a backward glance.

Now we come to a fearful scene. The lovers were wrenched from each other’s arms and the daughters were dragged forward. The storm had grown more violent and the waves were crashing against the rocks. Sea spray was carried over the top of the castle walls; lightning flashed and by its light a scene of pure horror was illuminated. Dragging the women along the edge of the precipice the warriors came to a chasm which resembled the crater of a volcano as it was completely closed with the exception of the opening at the top and a hole below through which the sea rushed in with terrific force and violence. The roaring of the sea was fearful and the lightning flashed and it was now that the seven sisters realised their fate. There could be no escape, screaming and begging for mercy they were hurled into the boiling seas. Their father’s orders carried out.

What happened to the seven Vikings is not known, the legend is not for them. Eventually, over time the castle fell into ruin. As for the chieftain? well he sleeps in an unknown grave his name forgotten, but the legend of The Seven Sisters remains. The cave is now known locally as The Cave of The Seven Sisters.

On a stormy night you can still hear their screams and as you look out over the seas you may see the outline of a ghost ship as seven lovers search the waves.

Hope you enjoyed the tale.

I'm going away for the weekend so I hope the weather keeps fine for you all and I will return on Sunday with tales anew. Keep safe, Keep happy and Keep smiling.

1739-40 Arctic Ireland. Our little ice age and The Forgotten Famine.

Bad weather hits Ireland.

Modern Ireland has experienced two of the greatest famines in European history. Everyone has heard of The Great Famine of 1845-1850 and its place in the annals of history is forever secured. The other famine, that of 1740-41 although more intense and infinitely more deadly has become known as The Forgotten Famine, and although often attributed to “natural causes” a closer look reveals the suffering could have been alleviated.

On the last day of 1739, Ireland awoke to find itself in the grip of a mini Ice Age. Rivers froze, mills seized up, and houses could not be heated above freezing point. Some people were enchanted by the novelty of it all. Carnivals, dances and sheep-roasting were held on the ice. It was reported at the time that a hurling match was played on the frozen Shannon River, while a fair was held on the frozen Lee River in Cork, one of the most southerly rivers in Ireland. It was said that it was so cold that alcohol froze and birds dropped from the sky, frozen in mid flight.

However the euphoria was not to last for in its wake came drought, flood, fire, famine and plague that have had few parallels in the recorded history of this island. Fuel prices rocketed and the poor began to freeze to death. However, a greater tragedy was unfolding, in early 1740 as the cold conditions continued the potato crop began to die and with it the seedlings that should have ensured a future crop. Even the cattle and sheep perished. This cold lasted into February and was not followed by the usual rains.

In January 1740, nature itself seemed to turn against the people. A winter of terrible coldness fell across the country. The temperatures fell so much that the ports were blocked by ice and coal could not be brought in from Britain. In the 1700s, without central heating, electricity, rail or reliable road transport, coal, the most common means of heating, was brought by boat. The frozen harbours and rivers meant that it could not be delivered to many towns. This had the effect of causing coal prices to soar. As a result hedges, trees, and nurseries around Dublin were stripped bare as desperate people searched for substitute fuel.

By April people were beginning to fear the worse. Whatever farm animals that survived the heavy frosts now had nothing to graze upon. The corn, which had been planted in the hope that the rain would come, failed to grow in the fields. The price of corn more than doubled which led to disturbances. In Drogheda a corn ship was boarded by the mob and its load removed, in Dublin mobs attacked bakeries in the search for bread. The drought caused mill streams to dry up thus preventing corn mills from making the flour. It also caused the timbers of houses to dry out and many fires took hold in diverse towns and villages.

As people starved that winter, the new year of 1741 saw the outbreak of typhus and dysentery. With a population already severely weakened by starvation, 1741 became known as “The Year of The Slaughter”. In many ways it had become the perfect storm within which starvation and disease decimated the population.

In September 1741, the bad weather returned in the form of violent gales which were followed by heavy blizzards in October. Then in November two terrible storms hit the country and these brought snow and frost. On the 9th December there was severe flooding throughout the country and the very next day the frost returned.

Exact figures of the number of people who died are unknown but most historians accept a figure somewhere around 400,000 from a population of about 3 million. This event did not have the same impact upon the mind of the populace as the famine a century later largely because it did not spark the large-scale emigration that followed the famine of 1845.

The causes of such freak weather remain poorly understood. However, it has been suggested that it was precipitated by volcanic eruptions on the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia which sent thousands of tons of dust into the upper atmosphere blocking out the rays of the sun.

It is interesting to note that Mount Tarumae in Japan experienced a major volcanic eruption, as did Mount Asahi, Japan’s tallest mountain, in 1739.

In 1783 and 86 we experienced two successive severe winters both attributed to an Icelandic volcanic eruption.

In 1816, known as the year without summer, snow fell late and the summer never really materialised. The winter proceeding it was also severe.

A volcanic eruption at Mount Tambora on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia, greatly disrupted wind patterns and temperatures.

In 2010 the eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland caused enormous disruption to air travel across western and northern Europe over a period of six days in April 2010. Additional localised disruption continued into May 2010.

Is there a connection between volcanic activity and our unusual Irish weather?

Could it happen again?

Well we are certainly experiencing colder and more prolonged winters. Climate change is a fact. Volcanic action is projected and we are witnessing drastic changes in weather patterns.

So stock up on warm clothing, gather your winter fuel through the summer, then draw comfort from the fact we have been through it before and we are still here to tell the tale.

There is a brilliant little book called: Arctic Ireland written by David Dickson that covers this episode in Irish history for those who may wish to learn more and it would make a nice addition to your library.

Souterrains.

This post is in response to a question from Radcliffe on 20th March 2011.

From French souterrain, from sous ‘under’ + terrain ‘ground’.

There have been various theories put forward concerning the use of souterrains. Some have suggested they were constructed as a place of refuge in time of attack, others have suggested that they were intended as storage facilities for weapons and supplies. There are suggestions that the souterrains were used as a primitive form of cold storage for perishable goods, the forerunner of the modern day refrigeration method?

It would have been difficult to get anything in and out of the souterrains through the tiny entrances. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to build a fairly large space for storage implying you intended to keep a lot goods there and then only provide an entrance through which it would be difficult to carry objects much larger than a small sack.

Neither does it make sense to store weapons and supplies in a deep, dark and damp hole in the ground. As a place of refuge, there are many souterrains that have only one entrance which would make it more of a prison than a place of refuge. Dark, damp, no sanitation, no water, I don’t think it would be my first choice?
It is sad to imagine that during the ravages of the famine, of which there were many in this country including 1740 The year of The Slaughter, that the souterrains may have been used as places of refuge for those suffering from the freezing weather and starvation.

There is no definite evidence that souterrains were used as places of ritual practice but there are certainly ritual aspects to their use. Evidence of fire has been found at a number of sites as well as cremated human bones. When you consider that superstitious Iron Age humans may have looked upon the souterrain as an entrance to the domain of the earth goddess/gods? It may also have taken on significance as a symbol of the womb of mother earth sp may have been used for rituals surrounding birth and re-birth? They may also have been seen as places where you could commune with the spirits and with nature, a place of deep meditation.

Could it be possible that there were varied uses concerning souterrains that may have influenced their designs? Some do have more than one entrance so may have served as escape tunnels? Some have been discovered under Raths so may have been storage facilities for weapons and supplies? Some, due to a constant cold temperature could indeed have been used as primitive fridges. However, some may have been used as a place of ritual. It’s certainly food for thought.

There are also a number of legends concerning the Tuatha de Danann, and the Sidhe in regards to souterrains.

As I have said before “It’s for you the reader to decide”

Lower image: Court of the Faeries Artist: James C. Christensen
Top image: Titania Sleeping Artist: Richard Dadd