Coming Clean 1: Mysterious underground tunnels under Clontarf
Excavation work on the Dublin Port Tunnel has uncovered mysterious underground tunnels in the Clontarf area. Surveyors on the project have stated that the network of tunnels which stretch for several miles are too deep to have been an old sewerage system and are obviously man-made. The tunnels were uncovered late last week and are currently being mapped and investigated by archaeologists from Irish Antiquities Division of the National Museum of Ireland and surveyors from Duchas.
The construction company in charge of the project remains tightlipped but speculation is rife in the Irish historical community. According to Fergus McLinden, an archaeologist at Queen's University Belfast "We're guessing wildly here as we haven't seen the shafts and tunnels yet but they may have been old mines of some sort. They're quite deep underground and hewn out of solid rock"
"As to what else they could be, we have no idea. There were no major British military installations in the area so they're unlikely to be escape routes. There is also some speculation that they may have been connected to the St Anne's Park in Clontarf, but they seem too expansive for that."
Local historian and politician Barry Ahern had an alternative theory to offer. "Clontarf Castle was originally an important Knights Templar preceptory, before they fell foul of the Inquisition. This was after they were famously rounded up on Friday the 13th, 1307, thus giving birth to the superstition concerning the date of Friday the 13th. What makes all of this particularly intersting is the local legends in Clontarf concerning hoards of buried treasure and valuables that the Templars may have secreted in the area at that time. No-one really has any idea what could have been buried by the Templars. Nearly everything has been suggested from hoards of coins to important documents and religious Templar artefacts. Some have even suggested that Clontarf could have been the last resting place of the Ark of the Covenant..."
Meanwhile further tunnelling is being carried out at a slower pace in case further tunnels are uncovered that may collapse or cause damage to the drilling equipment.
This is not the first hold-up on the Port Tunnel project. In recent weeks, contractors have had to investigate cracking in a house in Marino. CIE have also complained about the tunnel causing movement in the railway line on the main Dublin-Belfast line.
LMAO
Posted by: birdbath at August 1, 2003 09:16 AM