2002:1147 - CLOGH EAST (BGE 3/60/3), Limerick

This site was examined as part of Bord Gáis Éireann’s Pipeline to the West. A burnt spread and eleven pits were excavated, including an extremely large, deep pit that may have served as a well. Also investigated were nineteen post-holes and 22 stake-holes.

The large pit or well was an irregular subcircle in plan, with a diameter of 8–9m, and was 3.5m deep. The cut of this feature was irregular, with concave ‘steps’ in places in the sides, possibly to facilitate access to the base, which was 1.5m square, cut into bedrock and reached the water table. Several post- and stake-holes were recorded in the sides of the pit. A small platform cut into the southern side was defined by five stake-holes set around the edge, perhaps supporting a shelter. Three stake-holes near the base on the same side of the pit may have held hand supports. On the western side, just above the level of the bedrock, were seven stake-holes that again may have supported a handrail or similar structure. In addition, a deep post-hole was situated near the top of the southern side of the pit.

The pit or well contained a sequence of nineteen fills. These deposits were generally dark grey/black, silty clays with varying percentages of stone. A detailed record has been made of the quantity, type and size of the stone fragments and the extent of heat shattering, and it is hoped that this will allow some analysis of the activities that caused the stone to become fragmented in the different manners observed. Some of the upper fills overlapped nearby pits, suggesting that they were open simultaneously and became filled together.

Two of the other pits were subrectangular with stake-holes in the corners. The larger one measured 2.6m by 2m and was 0.63m deep; the smaller one measured 1.9m by 1.2m and was 0.55m deep. One truncated a patch of oxidised natural clay to the west of the well. A large pit to the north-east of the well was an irregular subcircle in plan, measuring 4m by at least 3.8m, and was 0.7m deep, with an irregular bowl-shaped profile. Also to the east were two elongated teardrop-shaped pits. These measured c. 5m by 1.3m and were 0.45m deep at their deeper, wider, western ends. Two post-holes were situated on either side of the narrow end of one of these pits, which also had a post-hole in its base. Of the three other pits, two were shallow and dubious, and the other lay several metres west of the main focus of the site.

Eight of the post-holes were situated at the western end of the site and were perhaps related. These post-holes were 0.21–0.49m wide and 0.08–0.34m deep. Six appeared to form an arc, with the other two just inside. They may represent part of a larger structure or a windbreak, perhaps protecting the hearth suggested by the area of scorched natural. To the east and south-east of the well were seven further post-holes. No pattern was apparent in their layout.

Few artefacts were recovered during the excavations. Two chert flakes were retrieved, one from the site surface and the other from the well. Several pieces of bone, most from the well, were recovered. The artefact of greatest interest is a copper-alloy pin from the centre of the well. This appears to be a crutch-headed stick-pin with late 10th–12th-century parallels. It is likely that sufficient charcoal will be recovered from samples to provide a number of radiocarbon determinations. The bone from the well may also be suitable for dating in this fashion.

It appears that the excavated site represents a type of burnt spread, or fulacht fiadh, with a well to provide water in the absence of nearby streams. In general the burnt stone material spread across the surface of the site was similar to the pit fills, and they probably had a common origin. The volume of material found within all of the features and the spread was c. 80m3. It appears that the spread continued into the adjacent field for 10–20m, as the landowner indicated that he had observed black material in the soil on the single occasion that the field had been ploughed in living memory. This volume of material indicates a considerable period of use for the site. It is likely that the material originally accumulated adjacent to the well, rather than within it, and was used to backfill the large hole after the use of the site had ceased. There is, however, no evidence in the fill sequence of a period of abandonment and natural silting, and it seems that the backfilling took place during a fairly restricted time period.

Evidence of a hearth was seen in the in situ burning observed toward the western end of the site. This area appeared to have been sheltered from the wind by a structure supported by an arc of post-holes. This oxidised area was truncated by a later pit, and so presumably the hearth was replaced by another elsewhere, probably within the mound.

The various pits found on three sides of the well were cut into the natural deposits, which are fairly impervious to water, and the pits would have held water for period of time, had this been required of them. Several of the pits appeared to have had associated structures, shown by stake-holes in the corners or by adjacent post-holes, and these pits may have been lined and/or roofed. These types of structures are commonly interpreted as being related to sweat-rooms or saunas rather than food preparation.

In the absence of absolute dating, it is difficult to assign a period to the construction of the site. Fulachta fiadh and burnt mounds/spreads are, in current archaeological thinking, generally considered to be of Bronze Age origin, although historically they have been thought of as early medieval monuments. In the Clogh East example the presence of a medieval copper-alloy pin within a large burnt stone feature perhaps suggests a 10th–12th-century date for the site. It is not impossible that the artefact was intrusive, but this seems unlikely. Alternatively, there may have been two phases of mound activity, which would account for the few intercutting features recorded, although no evidence of a recut was visible in the fills of the large pit. It is anticipated that a series of radiocarbon dates will shed some light on the matter.

2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin