Fulacht fia

The National Monuments Service's description

Within the western flood-plain of the River Nore. This fulacht fia was revealed during archaeological monitoring of a Bord Gáis Éireann gas pipeline development and was subsequently excavated in August 1999 (Stevens 2000, 151; Licence no. 99E0598).
Three separate troughs clustered in the centre of the monument, these consisted of a sub-circular pit (diam. 2.2m; D 0.8m), with a single post-hole immediately to the S; another sub-circular pit (diam. 1.7m; D 0.9m) 1m to the W, which had a single associated post-hole to the E and a rectangular pit (dims. 2.8m x 1.6m; D 0.5m) with rounded edges immediately N of the latter pit. All three were deliberately backfilled with burnt mound material. The rectangular pit was lined with bright grey putty clay (T 0.3m) and a small, tight cluster of shallow stake-holes and a further isolated stake-hole were found at the E edge of this trough. A small whetstone was retrieved from its lower backfill.
The troughs were sealed by a circular burnt mound (dims. 21m N-S; 11m+ E-W; D 0.25m) of fire-cracked stone (sandstone 95%/limestone 5%), charcoal lumps and black silt. An informal hearth area, S of the trough complex, was sealed within the burnt mound. Later ploughing and modern drainage activity reduced the level of the top of the mound. (Stevens 2000, 151)

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of upload: 31 July 2018

References

Stevens, P. 2000 Parksgrove: 2: fulacht fiadh. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 1999: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 151 (entry 459). Bray. Wordwell.