2001:1327 - BALLYHENRY: N11, Wicklow ByPass Road Scheme, Wicklow

Excavations of this fulacht fiadh commenced on 24 July 2001 and continued over a period of six weeks. The site, which had initially been identified in an earlier field-walking survey, survived as a large mound c. 18m in diameter in the townland of Ballyhenry, c. 0.4km to the north of Ashford village, Co. Wicklow.

The mound was 17m by 18.5m in size and 1.2m high, orientated north-east/south-west, with a slight dip in the mound material within the north-west quadrant, giving it a characteristic horseshoe shape. Any cooking-related activity that was carried out on the site appeared to have been confined to the north-west portion of the mound, where three large pits/troughs were found in a linear arrangement along a north-west/south-east axis.

The first and most substantial of these features was rectangular, orientated almost east–west, and measured 2m by 1.8m by 0.38m deep. Small fragments of decayed wood were noted within the base of its fill along the north-east and south-west edges of the feature, suggesting that it may have had a wooden lining that was subsequently removed.

The second trough had been cut into the south-east edge of Trough 1 and was placed slightly askew of it, orientated in a north-west/south-east direction. This second trough was again rectangular but slightly smaller in size, measuring 1.6m by 1.7m by 0.24m deep.

The third trough lay only centimetres from the south-east edge of trough 2, on an almost north–south axis. It had a less formal shape, measuring 1.8m by 1.4m by 0.25m deep where it was cut into subsoil. It appears to have been the latest of the three to have been dug; evidence from the section of the quadrant baulk suggests that it was cut through the main burnt mound material.

All of the troughs had been filled with similar black charcoal-rich soils containing numerous heat-shattered stones.

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