Fulacht fia

The National Monuments Service's description

In former, generally level, wet pasture, now the site of St Joseph’s Secondary School, on the S edge of Tulla village and c. 45m N of a burnt mound (CL035-156----). A burnt mound was identified in January 2015 during monitoring of groundworks for the development of St Joseph’s Secondary School (Halpin and McQueen 2015). It was excavated (License No. 15E0040) by Alison McQueen and Associates in February 2015 (Halpin and McQueen 2016). The large, irregular shaped spread of burnt material (20m E-W; 12.5m N-S) was recovered during topsoil stripping and comprised a relatively shallow spread containing heat-shattered stone and charcoal with several natural springs at its perimeter. A cruciform baulk was temporarily retained in situ. Two layers (C. 14 and C. 15) were noted in the section face. The radiocarbon date for the upper layer (C.14) is 2723±30 BP (870±30 BC Cal.). The lower layer (C.15) represents slightly earlier material cast out around the trough during some of the initial phases of use. The radiocarbon date for the lower layer is 2783±29 BP (940±37 BC Cal.) indicating some 80 years difference in the radiocarbon dates between the initial and the later phases. The wood assemblage from the mound and trough deposits was dominated by alder and ash (Lyons 2016, 5). A well-defined rectangular trough (3.25m E-W; 1.9m N-S; D 0.46m) was located approximately in the centre of burnt spread. It contained frequent angular heat-shattered stones of varying sizes (L 5-10cm), mixed with abundant charcoal inclusions and occasional fragments of undiagnostic burnt bone. An intact animal tooth was recovered from the upper fill and was confirmed to be from a domestic animal (Duhau 2016, 2). The trough was cut out of the natural subsoil, which has a high content of naturally occurring clay, providing a waterproof lining. The base had a semi-circular arrangement of five large stones which appeared to be deliberately placed and may also have facilitated access to the trough. Two burnt mounds (CL035-156---- and CL035-168----) c. 45m to S and c. 100m to SW respectively, were excavated in 2014 (O’Connell 2014; Licence No. 14E0023 ext.).

The following images have been uploaded:

CL035-167----_01 Pre-excavation view of central trough, from E. ©Alison McQueen & Associates.
CL035-167----_02 Post-excavation view of central trough, showing potential ‘step-down’ area, from E. ©Alison McQueen & Associates.

Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Alison McQueen

Date of upload: 5 December 2017

References

Halpin, B. and McQueen, A. 2016 Final archaeological excavation and post-excavation results, St Joseph's Secondary School, Tulla, Co. Clare. Licence no. 150040. Unpublished report. National Monuments Service, Department of Culture Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Dublin.

Duhau, N. 2016 Archaeofaunal report. In Halpin, B. and McQueen, A. Final archaeological excavation and post-excavation results, St. Joseph's Secondary School, Tulla, Co. Clare. Licence no. 150040. Unpublished report. National Monuments Service, Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Dublin. Appendix 3.

Lyons, S. 2016 Arhcaeobotanical report. In Halpin, B. and McQueen, A. 2016 Final archaeological excavation and post-excavation results, St Joseph's Secondary School, Tulla, Co. Clare. Licence no. 150040. Unpublished report. National Monuments Service, Department of Culture Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Dublin. Appendix 2.