2000:0853 - COOTEHALL, Roscommon

An archaeological excavation was carried out on this site in conjunction with monitoring. Planning permission had been received to construct thirteen dwelling-houses and associated sewage treatment works at Cootehall, Co. Roscommon. Monitoring and groundworks took place between 17 July and 10 August 2000. An enclosure site is immediately to the north of the development (SMR 7:18). The development took the enclosure into consideration by causing minimal intrusion on the extant archaeology, and no houses were built adjacent to it. There are several other archaeological sites in the immediate vicinity.

During the monitoring, two fulachta fiadh were revealed. The development impinged on one of these sites, which was subsequently excavated, and the exposed portion of the other was recorded in situ. It consisted of an area of burnt limestone and sandstone in a charcoal-rich soil, which was level with the surface of the subsoil. It remained unexcavated because the development did not affect it.

The second, fully excavated fulacht fiadh was found further to the south. Although the pit was dug into natural clay, its base was found to be more coarse and sandy in nature than its walls. No attempt had been made to caulk it. The porous nature of the pit suggests that it was not designed to retain water. Grey marl, a soil associated with long-standing water, was found in close proximity to the site. The base of the pit retained a small quantity of small, unworked twigs. These were too small and fragmentary for a sample to be obtained. Since there was no layering of the charcoal-rich soil, it appears that the site was used over a relatively short period of time. It is probable that it was used as a sauna, in which the fired stones were deposited in the pit, with water from an adjacent source poured over to create steam. This steam would probably have been retained with the use of a temporary structure over the pit.

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