2002:0107 - BEARNAFUNSHIN, Clare

Topsoil-stripping on the Bord Gáis Éireann Pipeline to the West uncovered a fulacht fiadh in Bearnafunshin townland, Co. Clare. The site was in the hollow of two sharply sloping hills, which make up the limestone topography that is typical of this area of north Clare. The subsoil was an orange/yellow sandy clay with frequent inclusions of stones and boulders at the surface. The diameter of the subcircular, compact mound, which consisted of a large spread of heat-shattered stone and charcoal-rich material sealing a well-defined, unlined trough, was c. 14m. The mound was 0.4m deep and had several layers of upcast from different episodes of firing. Roughly in the centre, a well-defined, unlined trough, measuring 4.5m north– south by 2m, was cut into the subsoil. It had a U-shaped cut with very sharply sloping sides and a rounded base. It was dug to a significant depth (1.6m) to use the water table as a water source.

The trough had two further shallow depressions cut into the subsoil at either side, which would probably facilitate further access to the base of the trough for excavation of subsoil and removal of spent material after firing episodes. A small, shallow, linear feature was encountered south of the trough, measuring 2.5m east–west by 1.25m. This was probably a natural depression filled with contemporaneous burnt material. No other features or structures were noted.

Approximately 6m to the north-west of the fulacht were the remains of a very small burnt spread that was partially exposed at the edge of the pipeline corridor. The spread was 5m long, running north–south at the fence-line, and had a maximum width of 2m. It had a very thin depth (0.17m) of heat-shattered sandstone and charcoal, typical of burnt-mound material. The spread may be the remains of a pit with burnt material or the perimeter of another, possibly associated, fulacht fiadh.

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