County: Cork Site name: TEADIES UPPER
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 00E0584
Author: Redmond Tobin, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Fulacht fia
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 536723m, N 555321m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.746655, -8.916360
This site, noted during work on the Ballingollig– Ballineen gas pipeline, was first brought to attention by the landowner. It lies on good grazing land on a south-facing slope. The landowner’s interpretation was verified by the presence of a low mound of blackened earth and heat-shattered stones. This mound was not disturbed during the process of stripping but had been spread extensively during years of ploughing.
This showed the fulacht fiadh to extend 8m north–south. The spread extends from east to west by 15.2m and is 0.3m in depth. No features showed on the exposed surface of the burnt material. The burnt mound was removed by hand. During the removal of the mound, a spread of stones was uncovered on the eastern side of the mound, extending north.
A pit was located towards the northern edge of the spread. This feature was subrectangular/ elliptical in plan, measuring 2.54m east–west by 1.75m. When fully excavated it reached a maximum depth of 0.6m. The fill was quite uniform. The profile of the main feature was very well defined, with steep sides and a flat, level base. The excavated plan and the fill would suggest that this feature was the trough.
The fill, for the most part, was blackened soil and heat-shattered stone. Below this was a very dense layer of charcoal resting on, and interfacing with, a thin layer of grey silt. This combined layer varied between 0.05m and 0.1m at the base and lined the sides of the trough to an average height of 0.21m. The presence of this charcoal layer suggests that the trough was lined using wicker, or perhaps a wattle-and-clay mix.
The remains of the mound were removed, and no other features were recorded.
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
