An early sewage system?

Nick Brennan, who was in the Province last week as a guest speaker at the Archaeological Conference in Belfast, and spotted last week's tunnel story while idly flicking through local newspapers, believes the tunnels are an early 19th century drainage system created to cope with the growing problem of sewage disposal at that point in the City's history.

Tourism websites claim that subterranean tunnels running under the Walled City once served as a linkage of the entire fortress without having to go above ground, and that they - due to security reasons - were closed to the public, but claim the part they played throughout the history of the city is a significant one.

Whether or not there are other tunnels, Mr Brannon is convinced the tunnels Brian McCarthy and Brian McMichael have discovered are sewage drains.

"There is a map of these and I have seen it. The tunnels these people have discovered are man-made and some were big enough for people to walk into, to routinely clean. They certainly aren't Celtic but there's nothing wrong with myths and legends," he said.

Mr Brannon said that the City was also 'home' to quite a lot of subterranean cellars, and there was a possibility of some of the underground system and building work dating back as far as the 17th Century, and it was entirely feasible that, if the now bricked up and filled in tunnels and cellars were excavated, people would find broken household items of all descriptions including chamber pots...but probably not gold.

"Honestly, these tunnels are an early 19th Century sewage system which were built as a public health and environmental response to the issue of dealing with sewage. At that time they were beginning to link bad sewage planning with critical illness: but as a find it is interesting in its own right," Mr Brannon said.

Another intersting snippet Mr Brannon parted with, however, was that a 'water bastion' also used to exist in the City in or around where the Richmond Centre is now. However the Walled system was breached to allow people in and out of the City more freely, and so the bastion disappeared, although he recalled that it was excavated a long number of years ago.

l If anyone has pictures relating to the aspect of the City's Walls which have now vanished and would like to share the images with Sentinel readers they can contact the Sentinel on 028 7134 1175, or they can email Jpeg images to [email protected].