County: Cork Site name: TEADIES UPPER
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 00E0585
Author: Redmond Tobin, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Fulacht fia
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 536184m, N 555209m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.745588, -8.924143
This site was identified as a substantial spread of blackened soil and heat-shattered stone that extended over 40m from east to west along the corridor of the Ballincollig–Ballineen gas pipeline. The extent of the spread implied the presence of more than one fulacht fiadh at this location.
The site lies on a gently sloping natural terrace to the west of a steep west-facing slope. West of the site the land shelves towards the River Castlehane. There are springs rising to the north and south. Preliminary work established the existence of two distinct fulachta fiadh (west and east).
The western site was quite large, extending 9.15m north–south by 25.8m, in four separate concentrations of burnt material. This material follows the natural topography of the site, and no traces of buried features were recorded. A fragment of a lignite bracelet was recovered from the burnt material in the north-eastern portion of the site. The only feature encountered was a field drain crossing the site from the north-east.
The eastern site consisted of a single concentration of blackened earth and heat-shattered stones located 0.35m to the west of the previous site. The concentration extended 4.35m south–north by 15.6m. The depth of the material was quite extensive in parts, reaching a maximum depth of 0.6m. The material had been cut through in several places by field drains.
The removal of the burnt material, during the stripping, exposed a subcircular feature lying 0.3m to the south of the major concentration. This feature was aligned north-west/south-east and measured 2.7m by 1.65m. It was sectioned and showed a maximum depth of 0.5m. The fill was predominantly burnt material interspersed with a peaty, mid-brown fill that may correspond to topsoil and sod. At the base of this feature was a thin layer of grey silt and charcoal. This layer might suggest the presence of a wicker/wattle lining for this feature. This feature displays similarities to the trough lining at the previous sites and may, therefore, be a trough associated with this site.
In general, both of these sites were severely damaged in the course of the stripping and subsequent grading. The western site was almost totally destroyed, while the eastern site is partially preserved in the field to the north.
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
