County: Limerick Site name: BALLYNOE (BGE 4/1/3)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E1733
Author: Ken Wiggins, for Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Pit
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 552945m, N 652456m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.621299, -8.694943
The site was exposed during the monitoring of topsoil-stripping along the Bord Gáis Éireann Barnakyle to Coonagh West gas pipeline (No. 1128, Excavations 2002, 02E1649). It lay on the north-facing slope of a low hill, c. 90m north of a ringfort (SMR 13:28) and c. 1.2km south of Mungret village. It was fully excavated from 18 to 20 November 2002. The overall dimensions were c. 4.5m (north–south) by c. 4.8m.
Five cuts were identified in the subsoil. The most substantial of these was F1, a pit-like feature, 1.7m long, 1.35m wide and 0.37m deep. The fill was dark grey, charcoal-rich clay, containing a significant amount of burnt stone fragments. An irregular cut (F2), aligned north–south, extended from the northern side of F1, continuing beyond the limits of the wayleave to the north. This feature had an excavated length (north–south) of 2.2m and was 0.6m wide and 0.15m deep. The fill was grey silty clay, with a small quantity of burnt stone.
There were three other post-hole-type features on the site: F3 (0.37m long, 0.28m wide and 0.13m deep), with fill of dark grey, silty clay, F4 (0.48m long, 0.25m wide and 0.33m deep) and F5 (0.54m long, 0.38m wide and 0.1m deep), both with a fill of soft, grey, silty clay, with a few spots of charcoal and burnt stone fragments.
The existence of deposits containing burnt stone material in this group of cut features indicates that they most likely relate to a fulacht fiadh, for which there was no other evidence within the limits of the wayleave. No artefacts were discovered.
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
