Binder's Cove Souterrain Finnis Dromara. ( Bring a strong flashlight and wear strong hats or better still cycling helmets and good gloves and old jeans) The name comes from the French. 'Sous' meaning under and 'terrain' meaning earth. This has to be a very strong contender for best preserved in Ireland and longest souterrains in Ulster! This Binder Cove souterrain dates from early Christian times around the 9th century. It is well under an hour's journey out of Belfast. It is close to Dromara and closer still to the small village of Finnis in the shadow of Slieve Croob. It is easily found because of road signage and a well defined pathway leading right up to the entrance. Once inside switch on the solar powered lighting. This is s very well preserved souterrain. It should be completely dry, no muddy floor. The floor has a loose gravel covering. During the winter months the tunnels may be flooded so the gate is locked.The key may be obtained from O'Hare's garage on the B7 Rathfriland Road, near Finnis/Massford. This souterrain, near the settlement of Finnis, and just down the road from the impressive Legananny portal tomb, was rediscovered in the early eighteenth century. It was originally referred to simply as the “Finnis Cave,” but was also known by the name of the nearby peak, Slieve-na-Boley. The site took its modern name from a previous owner of the field (“Binder”) and a corruption of the English and Irish words for “cave.” Binder’s Cove has a short entrance passage, 2 m (6.5 ft) long, with only a meter (3.3 ft) of height, with a low lintel stone at the end that might break the head of an intruder rushing into the dark tunnel. After that constriction, the main passage at Binder’s Cove is about 30 m (98.5 ft) in length, with two side passages that are each about 6 m (20 ft) long. The main passages have about 1.5 m (5 ft) of headroom, and are about 1 m (3.3 ft) wide. Further Finnis Souterrain, is a securely built underground structure made up of three passages. The main passage runs from east to west for approximately 29m. It is made of granite, with large stones near the base giving way to smaller stones, creating an inward batter or curve. The main passage sidewalls are characterised by an outward stepping of the top most wall course, which provides a platform or ledge onto which the massive roof lintel stones were set. Two side passages extend from the central passageway in a north easterly direction, and there are low lintels at the entrance of each of these chambers. The chambers are both around 6m in length. In the first side passage, the constricted entrance is formed by large lintels. A roof aperture above these lintels possibly provided a vantage place for someone to hide and surprise an unwelcome intruder. Finnis Souterrain is known locally as ‘Binder’s Cove’. According to Mark Clinton, souterrains were commonly referred to as ‘an uamh’ or cave. He also states that the given price for building a souterrain was two cows. ‘Binder’ was the nickname given to a previous occupier of the souterrain field. Souterrains date from the early Christian period, between the sixth and tenth centuries AD. This was a period of civil unrest, with the constant threat of Viking raids, intertribal cattle raids, and regular theft of slaves. Although there is some debate about the purpose of souterrains, it is thought that they were built mainly as places of refuge, but were used for storage on a day to day basis. Finnis Souterrain would have made a useful cool store in the summer. The present entrance to the souterrain is not the original access point, the location of which is not known. Archaeologists think that the main passage continued beyond the present entrance. A report in the Northern Whig in 1836 refers to stone steps leading down to the souterrain, but these have never been found. It is not known when the present entrance to the site was made. Finnis Souterrain has been known for at least 200 years, but has been ‘rediscovered’ many times.