2002:0311 - GREENFIELD 6, Cork

A pre-development assessment was undertaken in the townland of Greenfield in association with the N22 Ballincollig Bypass Scheme. The site is to the north of this road. During road construction vast quantities of topsoil are removed, much of which is frequently stockpiled in fields outside of the road-take. The main contractor for the bypass proposes to use numerous fields outside the CPO area as permanent stores for topsoil. These fields will be raised by 1m above their existing levels. Within one of these fields is a fulacht fiadh. Before development works were to take place a decision was made to establish the full extent of the monument. Once the extent was established, a buffer zone surrounding this site was to be created, and an impact statement outlining how best to preserve this site in situ was to be prepared.

The site was in a large, relatively flat field. A drainage channel oriented north-east/south-west ran along the western edge of the site, and to the south a large, slightly undulating field was under plantation. This field is prone to flooding. No trace of the site was visible above ground before testing; however, blackened earth was visible in an area close to the drainage channel. Trampling of this area by horses had removed the topsoil cover, exposing the underlying earth, which had become blackened by the burnt-mound spread.

To define the extent of the site, four trenches varying in size were inserted at the margins of the area of blackened earth. Three revealed burnt-mound material, consisting of heat-shattered stones and charcoal flecks, 0.5–0.2m beneath the sod. Once this material had been identified, the trenches were not continued. This was done to prevent any unnecessary damage to the site and to expose only what was deemed appropriate to determine its extent. All of these trenches were subsequently backfilled, the deposits having been photographed and recorded.

Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth