Fulacht fia

The National Monuments Service's description

Archaeological monitoring (15E0577) by P. Duffy, D. Bayle and J. Whitaker of topsoil stripping over a large area (c. 92 ha.) conducted intermittently between Dec. 2015 and October 2018 uncovered 37 locations of potential archaeological importance (excavations.ie 2016:051). Each of these was further investigated by the same archaeologists under different licences. At Site 13 a burnt mound was excavated (16E0417) by D. Bayley (excavatioins.ie 2016:537). It presented as a spread (dims 15m NE-SW; 8m NW-SE; max. D 0.25m) of broken and burnt stone in a black clay matrix that was just S of a small canalised NW-SE stream which forms the townland boundary with Portan to the NE, and it had been truncated by medieval and post-medieval drains and furrows.
Four pits with animal bones from domestic waste including deer antler, cattle, sheep/pig and horse bones together with a post-hole at the W extent of the excavation were sealed by the mound material and probably pre-date the active use of the monuments. The mound (dims 9.5m x 8.2m; max. D 0.3m) was intermixed with layers of topsoil at the top and silts at the base and extended beyond the excavation to the NW. The mound overlay four troughs and several pits, but two separate fulachta fia are probably entwined. Three troughs (dims 1.35m x 1.26m; D 0.48m to 2m x 1.05m; D 0.34m) close together but not intercutting at the W edge probably formed one mound originally while a smaller trough (diam. 0.9m; D 0.32m) c. 12m to the SE was not immediately covered by any mound, although all the troughs were filled with burnt mound material over silt. A trough from the W edge provided a C14 date of 2439-2144 cal. BC (FTMC-HR36-12) from a fruitstone charcoal sample.
The small trough is amongst nine pits (diam. 0.46-0.53m; D 0.21m to dims 1.22m x 0.97m; D 0.12m) that are generally isolated but most of them are on slightly higher ground to the E of the trough where one of the pits had a slot-trench (L 1.1m) on its E side, perhaps for a wind-break. A possible hearth (dims 2.55m x 1.2m; D 0.25-0.35m) had a grey/black silty clay fill, from which a sample of hazel charcoal provided a date of 2015-1774 cal. BC (FTMC-HR36-7), while a pit W of the small trough provided a date of 2121-1896 cal. BC (FTMC-hr36-11) from a sample of hazel charcoal. The small trough itself yielded a radiocarbon determination of 2456-2204 cal. BC (FTMC-HR36-9) from hazel charcoal and the dates place the fulachta fia in the Early Bronze Age, but not all features dated to this period as an early medieval charcoal-making pit (ME051-078001-) was also present. (Duffy et. al. 2021, 8-12)

See the attached site plan from Duffy et al. (2012, fig. 13)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 26 April, 2023

Duffy, P., Fairhead, S. & F. Fleeshouven 2021 Final Excavation Report for Sites 3-37, Clonee, Portan, Gunnocks, Co. Meath. Multiple licences, Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy