County: Clare Site name: BALLYLEAAN (BGE 3/32/1)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E1207
Author: Kate Taylor, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Burnt mound
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 525964m, N 660575m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.691253, -9.095169
This site was examined as part of Bord Gáis Éireann’s Pipeline to the West. Part of a burnt mound was excavated at the north-western edge of a bog in a location surrounded by gently undulating hills. The excavated area sloped down sharply from south to north, and a spring was found during excavation at the base of the slope where the land began to rise out of the bog. A thick layer of colluvium overlay the archaeological deposits, and this may have obscured other features in the vicinity.
The mound was semicircular, although it continued beyond the limit of excavation into the bog in the adjacent field. The excavated part measured 11m by 6m, and it had a maximum thickness of 0.3m at the base of the slope. No hearth or trough was discovered. Below the burnt mound was a layer of peat in which were two large pieces of wood that appeared to be naturally preserved branches.
The main body of the mound consisted of a deposit of black silty clay with a 50% heat-shattered stone content and frequent charcoal flecks and chunks. Immediately above the peat at the south-western end of the site was a small layer of mid-grey silty clay with frequent charcoal flecks but no burnt stones, probably contemporary with the main deposit.
Partially overlying these burnt deposits were two similar layers of light grey, silty clay with occasional charcoal flecks, which may represent staining of the overlying colluvium by the charcoal-rich mound deposits. Also partially overlying the mound material was a small deposit of white/grey silty clay with occasional charcoal flecks, possibly a result of similar colluvial action or perhaps a degraded ashy deposit.
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
