County: Tipperary Site name: POULACAPPLE EAST
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Mr. J.F. Reynolds, National Parks and Monuments Branch, Office of Public Works
Site type: Ringfort - rath
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 636942m, N 639047m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.501566, -7.455891
The site consisted of a roughly circular area, approximately 43m in diameter, enclosed by a deep fosse and an outer bank giving a maximum diameter of about 55m. When the dense scrub, which covered the site prior to excavation was cleared away, it was found that cultivation ridges covered the interior of the ringfort, while there were a number of large tree stumps around the perimeter.
The cultivation of the interior and the planting of trees had caused considerable disturbance to the site and had destroyed almost all traces of a habitation level. A number of pits containing charcoal and burned and unburned animal bones mixed with dark earth were found. Some fragments of iron including a sickle and a knife were found in one pit, while another pit yielded some fragments of ornamented bone and the upper stone of a rotary quern. An amber button was found in the humus layer along with a quantity of iron slag. Apart from these finds no evidence of habitation was recovered. The finds offer little help in deciding a possible date for the construction and occupation of this site.
