Fulacht fia

The National Monuments Service's description

This fulacht fiadh is located on a slightly elevated, peat-covered promontory on the S shore of Valencia Island. Before excavation it consisted of a well-preserved slab-lined trough at the W end of a broad, low, sod-covered mound. The site was excavated in 1988 (Sheehan 1990b, 27-37).
The trough was constructed in a pit and its sides were formed of regular sandstone slabs. Measuring .9m NE-SW x 1.4m NW-SE x .6m deep, a large rectangular slab served as its floor. A number of slabs and deposits of clay formed a possible working surface at its S side. The mound was roughly oval in plan, 10m NE-SW x 7m NW-SE, and rose 1.35m high above surrounding ground level. It consisted of quantities of burnt and fire-shattered sandstone, intermixed with peat ash and nodules of peat charcoal. A loose tumble of large stones and slabs occurred along its NW limits. Underlying the level of the mound, and all other archaeological deposits noted on the site, was fibrous brown peat, a sample of which yielded a radiocarbon determination of 2950±80 BP. A group of pottery sherds and a spindle-whorl comprised the finds from the site. The spindle-whorl is of Early Medieval type and derived from a sealed deposit associated with the trough.

The above description is derived from A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan (compilers), 'The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry'. Cork University Press (1996), no. 420. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 28 July 2013