County: Clare Site name: KILBRECKAN (BGE 3/18/4)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E1523
Author: Emer Dennehy, for Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Burnt spread
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 546541m, N 640147m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.510090, -8.787528
The site was exposed during monitoring of topsoil-stripping along Section 3 of the Bord Gáis Éireann Pipeline to the West, from Goatisland, Co. Limerick, to Gort, Co. Galway. It is to the north of the Doora–Quin Road in County Clare, on a raised area of dry land that slowly gains altitude from the River Fergus flood-plain. To the immediate north of the site is an area of elevated limestone bedrock, which is densely covered by hazel and birch. A small stream that runs along the base of the escarpment bounds the site to the south.
Monitoring of the location first exposed the site as a black ashy deposit with frequent pockets of charcoal and fire-cracked stones, measuring 8.5m north–south by 11m with a maximum depth of 0.32m. This material represents two episodes of use, as illustrated by the build-up of peat between the layers of the deposit. The burnt spread continues eastward outside the limits of the Bord Gáis Éireann wayleave.
The spread is predominantly limestone, indicating that, if a fulacht is present outside the wayleave, it would not have been used for the open boiling of meat. It can therefore be concluded that the site was used for a different purpose, such as in the production of lime to be used in the processing of textiles/hides or for meat roasting.
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
