County: Limerick Site name: BALLINCURRA (BGE 3/76/1)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E0480
Author: Kate Taylor, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Hearth
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 558912m, N 634694m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.462150, -8.604623
This site was examined as part of Bord Gáis Éireann’s Pipeline to the West. The hearth was represented by a subcircular pit, measuring 0.65m by 0.72m by 0.15m deep, with a bowl-shaped profile. The pit contained two deposits, a mid-brown sandy silt, with frequent charcoal flecks and a small component of small stones, and a bright orange, sandy clay, with rare charcoal flecking and small stones. A halo of oxidised, natural, sandy clay, up to 0.15m wide, surrounded the cut feature and was visible in the base of the pit.
No artefacts were recovered, and only a limited amount of charcoal was obtained from sieved samples; this is unlikely to be suitable for radiocarbon dating.
It is difficult to reach a conclusion about the purpose or date of this isolated feature. It is clearly the site of a fire, as evidenced by the scorching of the natural geological deposits; however, at what time this occurred and whether it was for domestic or industrial purposes remain unknown.
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
