Fulacht fia

The National Monuments Service's description

In gently undulating pasture, with good views in all directions, 100m E of a townland boundary with Ballybronogue South. A hearth (LI021-185----) and a ring-ditch (LI021-167----) lie 285m to SW. Not depicted on OS historic mapping. Monument identified as a fulacht fiadh during monitoring of topsoil-stripping along the proposed route of the N20/N21 Limerick bypass. Monument excavated (Licence No. 99E0171) in 1999 by Ciara McManus and described as an oblong-shaped mound (L 17m; Wth 9m; H 0.35m) with a rectangular-shaped trough (2.1m NW-SE; 1m NE-SW; D 0.28m) having steep sides and a flat base, in the SW quadrant (McManus, 1999, 1-3, 5). Excavation of the mound revealed an accumulation of heat-shattered limestone stones and charcoal-rich soil.
An oval-shaped pit (2m NE-SW; 0.14m NW-SE; D 1.2m) was found 1.3m to N of the trough (McManus 1999, 3). The S half of the pit had a stepped side, while the N sides were more vertical. It had been filled by a number of deposits of burnt and shattered limestone rocks, along with a number of silt deposits. A few small fragments of animal bone were recovered from these fills, along with two fragments of unworked wood.
Twelve stake-holes were excavated around the E side of the pit which was the most gradual (McManus 1999, 4). There was no discernible pattern to the stake-holes in plan, except for a possible double line running N-S along the edge of the pit. Due to disturbance by modern drains on the W side of the pit, it was not possible to confirm whether there was a corresponding set of post-holes there. It is suggested that these stake-holes represented the remains of either a windbreak or a structure spanning the width of the pit.
Monument is not visible on Digital Globe orthophotos taken 2011-13 or on Google Earth orthoimages taken 28/06/2018.

See attached excavation plan and location map taken from McManus 1999

Compiled by: Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly

Date of upload: 10 August 2020

References

McManus, C. 1999 Excavation of a fulacht fiadh, Attyflin townland, N20/N21 Road Improvement Scheme, Co. Limerick. Licence no. 99E0171. Unpublished report submitted to the National Monuments Service, Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Dublin.