County: Limerick Site name: CROAGH (BGE 3/60/1)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E0645
Author: Emer Dennehy, for Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Flat cemetery
Period/Dating: Bronze Age (2200 BC-801 BC)
ITM: E 539953m, N 644061m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.544579, -8.885261
The site was exposed during monitoring of topsoil-stripping along the route of a Bord Gáis Éireann Pipeline to the West. A single cremation pit, an irregular pit and a marker post were identified.
The underlying boulder clay was cut by the small subcircular cremation pit, which measured 0.7m north–south by 0.6m and was 0.33m deep. The fill consisted of 10% sandstone and limestone in a dark grey, silty clay matrix with a large amount of burnt bone and some small charcoal pieces concentrated in the centre. It is believed to have had a central capping stone, which was removed during topsoil-stripping.
The post, which was circular with a conical profile, was 0.37m in diameter and 0.43m deep. The basal/outer fill consisted of 10% limestone in a mid-grey/brown silty clay matrix. The upper/inner fill consisted of 10% limestone in a black silty clay matrix with a moderate amount of charcoal.
The irregular three-sided pit, which measured 0.44m south-west/north-east and was 0.15m deep, contained two distinct deposits. The lower fill was composed of 10% limestone in a dark brown, silty clay matrix. The upper fill contained a very small amount of charcoal, which proved to be shallow and concentrated on the surface. The shape and fill of this cut indicate that it is a result of the disturbance of limestone boulders in the area; it was subsequently filled with burnt material and is non-archaeological in nature.
This site is c. 10m to the south-east of additional cremation burials BGE 3/60/2 (No. 1156, Excavations 2002, 02E0877). Though initially given separate numbers, these sites should be interpreted as a single cemetery.
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
