Fulacht fia

The National Monuments Service's description

Identified during archaeological monitoring of topsoil stripping associated with a residential development at Clarina Village. Excavated under licence no. 03E1603 by Ken Wiggins (Wiggins 2004), the results were summarised as ‘The archaeological area had maximum dimensions of c. 30m east-west by c. 20m. It was a large, roughly circular spread of dark-grey silty clay containing numerous pieces of heat-shattered sandstone. Excavations took place between 29 September and 15 October 2003. Excavation revealed a trough in the subsoil, measuring 4.72m east-west by 3.22m by up to 1.04m deep. The primary fill was black silty clay containing a high percentage of burnt sandstone; the secondary fill contained two wooden stakes and many other fragments of worked wood. An ancillary pit measured 1.32m east-west by 1.32m by up to 0.4m deep. The two fills contained some fragments of wood and burnt stone. The site, which appears to be the levelled remains of a fulacht fiadh, also contained a scattering of smaller pit-like features contemporary with the trough. It was also criss-crossed by a network of narrow drainage channels of modern origin’ (www.excavations.ie; Wiggins 2006, 310).

Compiled by: Martin Fitzpatrick

Date upload: 26 June 2020

References

Wiggins, K. 2004 Ballybrown, Clarina, Co. Limerick Excavation Report. Unpublished report (Licence No. 03E1603), submitted by Judith Carroll and Company Ltd. on behalf of Ballycummin Construction to the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

Wiggins, K. 2006 Ballybrown, Clarina. Fulacht fiadh. In I. Bennett (Ed.) Excavations 2003: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 310 (No. 1152). Bray. Wordwell.