County: Limerick Site name: KNOCKUREGARE (BGE 3/77/10)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E0429
Author: Kate Taylor, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Fulacht fia
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 561274m, N 634167m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.457586, -8.569799
This site was examined as part of Bord Gáis Éireann’s Pipeline to the West. The remains of a fulacht fiadh comprised a spread of burnt stone and a single trough. A possible hearth site was recorded in the spread.
The amorphous and discontinuous spread of stone measured a maximum of 11m by 5m by 0.1m thick, with a fairly flat profile over the uneven surface of the geology below. The total volume of material is estimated to be c. 1.5m3. Most of the spread comprised 80% burnt or degraded stone in a matrix of pale brown/grey, silty clay. Partially below the stony layer was a patch of charcoal-rich, silty clay with occasional burnt stones. This overlay a less charcoal-rich layer of silty clay, also confined to the same area. As little charcoal was observed elsewhere in the spread, it is thought that this is the location of a hearth, sitting within the mound.
The trough lay at the northern side of the spread, to the east of the hearth site. The cut was a slightly irregular oval, with fairly steep sides and a flat base. It measured 1.62m by 1.52m and was 0.3m deep, giving an approximate volume of 1.5m3. The trough was filled with a black silty clay containing 50% burnt stones and a small amount of charcoal.
The only artefact retrieved was a fragmented tooth from the spread material. A small amount of charcoal was recovered from the trough and hearth, but this is unlikely to be suitable for radiocarbon dating.
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
