County: Mayo Site name: SHANVAGHERA
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 00E0727
Author: Suzanne Zajac
Site type: Fulacht fia
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 541670m, N 786227m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.822290, -8.885896
Topsoil-stripping for the KnockâClaremorris Bypass revealed an area of burnt soil and heat-fractured stone in a low-lying, reclaimed field of grass surrounded by wet, marginal grazing and bog. A rescue excavation was carried out to determine the archaeological nature of the site and record any surviving features in advance of road development.
The disturbed remains of a low mound of heat-fractured stone and burnt soil were uncovered, cut in several places by land drains. In the lowest area of the site the remains of the base timbers for a large wooden trough emerged, below the burnt material. The trough had been placed into a cut in the natural subsoil. Apart from the remains of the trough that were in situ, and some disturbed burnt soil and heat-fractured stone, there were no other significant finds or features.
Soil samples and wood from the excavation are currently being processed, and it is hoped to carbon date the site from the burnt material overlying the base timbers of the trough.
1 Chapel Lane, Killala, Co. Mayo
