2002:0751 - PERSSEPARK, Galway

This fulacht fiadh was exposed on 2 July 2002, along a freshly stripped section of the Pipeline to the West corridor. The site was on a low rise sloping toward marshy ground. It consisted of a sub-oval burnt mound with a maximum depth of 0.46m that covered a centrally placed trough.

The trough measured 3.05m east–west by 1.8m and was dug to a maximum depth of 0.56m. Rectangular in plan, it was regularly fashioned with almost vertical sides that broke sharply to an even base. The floor of the trough had a slight western inclination and bottomed out to a compact, grey/white, gravelly sand. On the south-west corner was a small working platform, 1.1m long and 1m wide, which was dug to a depth of 0.35m. This platform would have provided a convenient area from which to tend the trough.

Excavation exposed two timber layers at the base of the trough, representing two distinct phases of use. The lowest layer consisted of six timbers found toward the western half of the cut. These were poorly preserved, reduced in most instances to a spongy mass. They measured 1.2m east–west by 1.8m. Individually they varied from 0.09m to 0.26m wide. Four stake-holes were uncovered at the corners of the trough; all had a V-shaped profile and were vertically inclined, driven to an average depth of 0.14m, with a diameter of 0.1m. They were filled with a uniform deposit of loose, grey, silty sand containing pebbles and occasional flecks of charcoal.

The second timber layer was wedge-shaped and consisted of nine individual timbers. Five were oriented east–west along the base; the sixth and seventh were originally side-wall planks; and the eighth and ninth were thin transverses that pinned the base timbers at either end. The general state of preservation of these timbers was poor. The verticals or side-wall planks had collapsed into the base of the trough, and the wood had deteriorated to a spongy pulp. The base timbers were in better condition, and it was possible to lift them out whole. They were 2–2.4m long, 0.2m wide and 0.04–0.06m thick. The trough was primarily filled with a moderately compact, blackened, peaty silt with frequent inclusions of grey/black angular limestone and a loose mix of angular burnt stones.

The overlying burnt mound was sub-oval, measuring 16m east–west by 12m, and extended 3.5m beyond the western limit of the pipeline corridor; this outlying section was left unexcavated. The mound varied in depth from 0.06m at its external fringe to 0.49m its centre and consisted primarily of two fills. The lower fill was a grey/black, moderately compact, silty clay with frequent small, heat-shattered, angular stones and occasional flecks of charcoal. Occasional inclusions of bone and a single tooth were recovered from this deposit. Above this was a mid-brown/black, moderately compact layer of silty peat with angular limestone and flecks of charcoal. This deposit measured 16m east–west by 12m and had an average depth of 0.4m.

Unit 6, Riveroaks, Claregalway, Co. Galway