County: Limerick Site name: RATHBANE SOUTH
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 99E0633
Author: Catherine McLoughlin, ADS Ltd.
Site type: Fulacht fia
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 558625m, N 654659m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.641563, -8.611333
Archaeological monitoring of topsoil-stripping along the line of the N20/N21 Limerick Bypass uncovered a spread of burnt stone within a charcoal-rich matrix. This lay c. 70m south of 99E0634, another fulacht fiadh (see No. 531, Excavations 1999) The site was a roughly circular spread of black soil and heat-shattered stone that measured 7.5m east-west by 8.5m and was c. 0.2m deep. Several pits were found beneath the burnt spread, as well as a trough and fire-pit.
The trough was an oval cut into the subsoil and measured 2.6m north-south by 1.9m. The depth of the cut varied but at its maximum was 0.4m, and it was filled by burnt mound debris. The fire-pit was 0.5m to the east of the trough. It measured 1.7m east-west by 1.2m and had a maximum depth of 0.35m. The base of the cut was filled by an extremely charcoal-rich layer with some burnt stone. Twelve stake-holes ran between the trough and the fire-pit, which would have acted as a windbreak. Several other pits were found in the vicinity of the trough and fire-pit, none of which produced any artefacts. All these features were sealed beneath the burnt spread, which was cut by a later gully and several lazy-beds. The gully was linear and orientated east-west. No artefacts were recovered from the fill to suggest a date for its use.
Windsor House, 11 Fairview Strand, Fairview, Dublin 3
