Fulacht fia

The National Monuments Service's description

In wet pasture 40m E of a stream. Not depicted on OSi historic maps. Identified as (BGE 3/77/10) in 2002 by Ken Wiggins (Licence 02E0119) during topsoil-stripping on the Bord Gáis Éireann Pipeline to the West. Excavated in 2002 by Kate Taylor under licence No. 02E0429 the results of which were summarised as follows; ‘The remains of a fulacht fiadh comprised a spread of burnt stone and a single trough. A possible hearth site was recorded in the spread. The amorphous and discontinuous spread of stone measured a maximum of 11m by 5m by 0.1m thick, with a fairly flat profile over the uneven surface of the geology below. The total volume of material is estimated to be c. 1.5m3. Most of the spread comprised 80% burnt or degraded stone in a matrix of pale brown/grey, silty clay. Partially below the stony layer was a patch of charcoal-rich, silty clay with occasional burnt stones. This overlay a less charcoal-rich layer of silty clay, also confined to the same area. As little charcoal was observed elsewhere in the spread, it is thought that this is the location of a hearth, sitting within the mound. The trough lay at the northern side of the spread, to the east of the hearth site. The cut was a slightly irregular oval, with fairly steep sides and a flat base. It measured 1.62m by 1.52m and was 0.3m deep, giving an approximate volume of 1.5m3. The trough was filled with a black silty clay containing 50% burnt stones and a small amount of charcoal. The only artefact retrieved was a fragmented tooth from the spread material. A small amount of charcoal was recovered from the trough and hearth, but this is unlikely to be suitable for radiocarbon dating (Taylor 2004, 333)’. Monument has been fully excavated and is not visible on aerial images.

Compiled by: Martin Fitzpatrick

Date of upload: 20 May 2021

References

Taylor, K. 2004 Knockuregare (BGE 3/77/10); Fulacht fia. In I. Bennett (ed.) Excavations 2002: Summary Accounts of Archaeological Excavations in Ireland, 333, No. 1207. Wordwell, Bray.