Fulacht fia

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a slight E-facing slope overlooking a local hollow. Archaeological testing (04E1052) by G. McLoughlin (2005) at Testing Area 1 of Contract 5 of the M3 motorway identified two spreads of broken and burnt stone c. 40m apart (excavations.ie 2004:1194) which were fully excavated (E003165) by S. Reilly in November and December 2006 as Calliaghstown 2. This mound is an irregularly shaped spread of broken and burnt stone in a charcoal enriched soil (dims 12m x 10.5m; max. T 0.36m). It covered a subcircular pit (dims 0.32m x 0.27m; D 0.11m) filled with a sandy clay and a subrectangular trough (dims 2.25m NW-SE; 1.75m NE-SW; D 0.4m) filled with the burnt mound material. Burnt bone was recovered from the mound, and a sample of hazel charcoal from the mound yielded a C14 date of 1266-1099 cal. BC (Beta 247132). No artefacts were recovered from the excavation but a barbed and tanged arrowhead was recovered in the topsoil of Calliaghstown 2. Fulacht fia (ME016-080001-) is c. 40m to the NW. (Reilly and Ginn 2008, 2)

See the attached plan from Reilly and Ginn (2008 fig. 8)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 4 March 2022

References

McLoughlin, G. 2005 M3 Clonee-North of Kells; Contract 5, Kells to North of Kells. Report on Archaeological Assessment at Testing Area 1 in Calliaghstown, County Meath. Licence: 04E1052. Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy

Reilly, S. and V. Ginn 2008 M3 Clonee – North of Kells, Contract 5, Kells to North of Kells. Final Report on the Archaeological Excavation of Calliaghstown 2, Co. Meath. Licence: E003165. Unpublished report, Archaeological Consultancy Services