County: Mayo Site name: CLARE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 01E1115
Author: Joanna Nolan, c/o Bypass office
Site type: Fulacht fia
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 534597m, N 774891m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.719591, -8.990909
Monitoring of topsoil removal took place on the site of a twelve-acre works compound with an access road measuring 180m north-east/south-west by 10m at Claremorris for the Mayo gas pipeline. All topsoil was removed and monitored. Bog was encountered at the north-east end but as the access road progressed towards the south-west the ground dried up. Most of the topsoil in the compound area was a light brown dry clay varying in depth from 0.25m to 0.5m. The peaty topsoil on the access route was fairly shallow, 0.7–0.5m deep, but as it runs towards north-east the ground deteriorates and deeper bog reaching a maximum depth of 2.5m was encountered. It was obvious that the ground was quite disturbed; plough-furrows were noted crossing the boulder clay in several locations.
The main find was a pit filled with burnt stone, interpreted as the remains of a ploughed-out fulacht fiadh; a chert scraper was found in this pit. A few patches of disturbed burnt stone were encountered at a distance from this site and are thought to result from the ploughing out of the fulacht. The only other archaeological deposit encountered was a small spread of charred cereal grains resting on boulder clay and not associated with any other archaeological contexts.
‘Thornhill’, Ballyhaunis Road, Claremorris, Co. Mayo
