1998:569 - CURLEW MOUNTAINS PROJECT, Sligo

All of the cluster of sites described below were revealed through the monitoring of the existing N4 from Hollybrook Estate to Castlebaldwin, Co. Sligo, a distance of 2km, when it was realigned and widened during the summer of 1998. The route lies at the base of the Curlew and Bricklieve Mountains and is only 1.2km from the megalithic cemetery at Carrowkeel.

At the northern end of the proposed routeway, and in close proximity to SMR 40:31, a holy well, and SMR 40:30, a flat-topped mound with an enclosure, six fulachta fiadh were discovered set within what is now a very boggy landscape, bordered to the west by a small stream known as the Brickeen Stream.

As all of the fulachta fiadh lay to the immediate west of the N4 routeway and in an area to be used as a tip for unwanted soil, it was not necessary to excavate them. They were left undisturbed by the removal of soil for the actual roadway, having being fully recorded and protected by the redeposition of peat. In many cases only the dimensions and height of the sites were noted, in other cases, where part of a fulacht fiadh was exposed in section, it was possible to gain further information on its make-up and stratigraphy.

All of the sites lay under a layer of topsoil and peat c. 0.1–0.5m deep. The smallest site measured 3m x 3m, and the largest 6m x 10m. Most of the mounds were low, with an average height of 0.5m, although there is some evidence that one or two of the mounds had been truncated at some time in the past, thereby severely reducing their profile. Owing to the high vegetation and growth of peat over the mounds, none of the sites was visible in the landscape before the monitoring of the realignment of the routeway. The make-up of the mounds, where revealed, was of the classic burnt mound type, with the presence of charcoal and fire-reddened soil with shattered and heat-cracked stones.

As none of the sites was excavated it is not possible to give an accurate date. However, it is possible to speculate that they were connected to the possible Bronze Age enclosure, SMR 40:30 that overlooked all six fulachta fiadh and that may indicate that the mounds were the result of domestic activity in the valley during that period.