County: Limerick Site name: ROSSBRIEN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 99E0235
Author: Mary Deevy, ADS Ltd.
Site type: Fulachta fia
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 557372m, N 654243m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.637728, -8.629787
The site is in Rossbrien townland, c. 2km south of the centre of Limerick City. It was uncovered during monitoring of topsoil-stripping before road construction on the N20/N21 Adare to Annacotty road scheme. A rescue excavation was carried out over six-and-a-half weeks between May and July. Excavation revealed two fulachta fiadh, c. 15m from each other, alongside the Ballynaclough River.
Both sites had very shallow 'mounds' consisting of circular spreads of charcoal-rich soil with heat-shattered limestone and sandstone. In Site A the burnt spread measured c. 10m in diameter and 0.1m in depth. A large, subrectangular trough was found beneath the spread on the western side of the site. The trough measured 2.5m by 1.9m and 0.55m in maximum depth. It was filled with burnt mound material. Evidence for a wooden structure in the trough was recovered in the form of three small stake-holes in the base of the trough. The western side of the site was badly disturbed by water action from the flooding river and by tree root action.
In Site B the charcoal spread was much smaller, 5.5m in maximum diameter and 0.1m deep. A subrectangular trough was found immediately adjacent to the spread, again on its western, i.e. river, side. The trough measured 2.2m by 2.1m and 0.5m in maximum depth. It was mainly filled with burnt mound material. Inside the trough at its eastern end a rectangular slab of limestone stood upright on the base of the trough, while there was a row of stake-holes along the southern side and in a cluster beside the slab on the northern side of the trough. The natural subsoil on which these sites were found was very stony. However, it was clear that the large amount of natural stones had been augmented and consolidated on the western side of Site B to form a fairly flat stone surface between it and the river. Site B was truncated by two linear ditches running perpendicular to each other, which were probably field drains. No artefacts were recovered from either site.
Windsor House, 11 Fairview Strand, Fairview, Dublin 3
