Fulacht fia

The National Monuments Service's description

In pasture, adjacent on S side to expanse of marshy ground. Horseshoe-shaped mound of burnt material (c. 19m NE-SW; c. 14m NW-SE; H 0.5m); opening (Wth 2.8m) faces W. Drain cut through W side of mound in 1991 exposed timbers of plank-built trough (L 1.8m; Wth 1.2m; long axis NW-SE); base consisted of three oak planks radially split from single tree trunk; side planks did not survive but had been held in place by square-cut timber stakes (0.1m x 0.1m), three of which survived in situ. Grooves cut in surface of base timbers to hold end planks but only the NW end plank remained in place. Outline of trough pit obliterated by drain except to the extreme NW. Exposed face of mound at SE end of trough revealed characteristic concentration of heat-shattered sandstone in a matrix of charcoal-rich soil. No evidence of hearth visible and likely that it survives beneath mound at NW end of trough. Samples taken from trough timbers were dendrochronologically dated to 991± 9 BC (QUB) (pers. comm. J. O'Shaughnessy). Second fulacht fiadh (11298) c. 130m to SW.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009