Fulacht fia

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated in a hollow at the bottom of the NE-facing slope of the Hill of Lloyd. Archaeological testing (04E0913) by J. Roynane (2005) at Testing Area 14 of Contract 4 of the M3 motorway identified three spreads of burnt mound material on the route of the N52 Kells link road. The material was on either side of the NW-SE field bank and townland boundary between Commons of Lloyd to the SW and Town Parks to the NE (excavations.ie 2004:1345). These were completely resolved (E003156) by D. Bayley (2010) as Town Parks/Commons of Lloyd 1 in February – March 2007 (excavations.ie 2007:1401) when just over 3700 square metres were opened and three burnt mounds were recorded.

This consisted of two spreads (dims 7.25m x 5.45m; T 0.17m: dims 13m x 11.8m; D 0.1m) of grey silt with broken and burnt stone sealing three pits, the largest of which (dims 2.73m x 2.4m; D 0.56m) had a basal fill of silt beneath three layers with burnt mound material added from the W side that was probably a trough. A smaller pit (diam. 1.2m; D 0.2m) just 2m to the W could also have served as a trough as it had a stone lined base beneath a layer of silt and a top fill with burnt mound material. A charred oat grain from the topmost fill in this feature returned a modern C14 date of AD 1684-1929 (UBA 11122) and the material must be regarded as intrusive. Just SE of this pit another cut feature (dims 1.8m x 1.4m; D 0.3m) might also have been a trough with a stone base, and a fragment of alder charcoal from its fill with broken and burnt stone yielded a more acceptable C14 date of 2462-2212 cal. BC (UBA 11124). Some smaller spreads of broken and burnt stone up to 15m to the NW (dims 5.62m x 3.7m; T 0.36m) and 10m to the W (22m plus x 8m; D 0.1m) could be associated with this monument. (Bayley 2010, 6-8)

Site the attached site plan and monument plan from Bayley (2010, figs 5, 8)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 11 March 2022

References

Bayley, D. 2010 M3 Clonee – North of Kells, Contract 4, Navan to Kells and Kells Bypass. Final Report on Town Parks / Commons of Lloyd 1, Co. Meath. Licence: E003156. Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy

Roynane, J. 2005 M3 Clonee-North of Kells; Contract 4, Navan-Kells and Kells Bypass. Report on Archaeological Assessment at Testing Area 14, in Town Parks, Commons of Lloyd, Whitecommons, Archdeaconry Glebe and Cakestown Glebe townlands, County Meath. Licence: 04E0913. Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy