County: Limerick Site name: SHANACLOGH (BGE)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: M. Gowen et al.
Site type: Barrow - ditch barrow
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 554460m, N 646546m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.568313, -8.671754
Several well-defined cremation pits were noted on this site after removal of topsoil. An area 8m x 6.5m cleared for excavation revealed an enclosing ring-ditch.
The ring-ditch was horseshoe-shaped in plan and enclosed an area 5.8m x 4.2m. The opening at the west was 3m wide where the ditch ended in two rounded, west-facing terminals. Three deposits of fill were noted in all five cuttings opened across it. The uppermost contained some large stones, concentrations of cremated bone and at one point a fragment, roughly one quarter, of a pot. There were no other artefacts found on the site. The ditch appeared to have been truncated on the west and south, having a maximum width of 1.3m, and was 30-50cm deep.
Six cremation pits were placed roughly in the centre of the enclosed area. The largest measured 80cm x 90cm x 29cm, four were roughly 30cm in diameter and 23-30cm deep, and the sixth was just 20-24cm in diameter. Not all the pits contained significant quantities of cremated bone and one which appeared to have none at all during excavation may be a posthole. Where it was possible to identify the mains, all the bones were human and appeared to be those of single individuals.
5 St Catherine's Rd. Glenageary, Co. Dublin
