County: Limerick Site name: ROBERTSTOWN(BGE 3/47/2)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E0670
Author: Emer Dennehy, for Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Burnt mound, Pit and Road- road/trackway
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 529473m, N 649594m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.593045, -9.040926
The site was exposed during monitoring of topsoil-stripping along Section 3 of the Bord Gáis Éireann Pipeline to the West, from Goatisland, Co. Limerick, to Gort, Co. Galway. The site is in a level basin of land at the base of a steeply rising hill, 7m from a tributary of the Robertstown River. The underlying geology is a crossover of sandstone gravel and limestone bedrock. The site measures 27m north–south by 31m and extends westward outside the limits of the Bord Gáis wayleave. It is composed of three main areas.
Area A consisted of a circular mound, 16m in diameter and 0.84m deep. It was composed of 70% limestone and 30% sandstone in a charcoal-enriched matrix. Six phases of activity were identified in the mound. A shallow rectangular trough was present at the base of the mound, measuring 4.3m north–south by 2.45m.
Area B measured 3.6m north–south by 4.2m and was a complex of six roasting pits excavated into the underlying gravel. The pits were subcircular, averaging 1.5m north–south by 1.2m, with an average depth of 0.4m. The roasting pits would not have retained water and were filled with burnt sandstone and limestone in a charcoal-enriched matrix.
Area C was a trackway composed of two courses of fractured limestone bedrock, measuring 10m north–south by 15.5m. It served to connect the roasting pits of Area B to the debris mound of Area A. The need for the construction of the trackway arose during Phase 2 of the history of the site. It provided a secure, level footing to combat adverse weather conditions, the encroachment of peat and the seasonal flooding from the nearby stream.
The initial activity in the area concentrated on a more traditional fulacht fiadh site consisting of a burnt mound and a trough that relied on the groundwater table and nearby stream for water.
This traditional use of the site ended after a relatively short period, and the focus of archaeological activity changed to the use of dry roasting pits. The mound was still used both to fire the stones and as an area in which to dispose of debris. The separation of this work area and debris area is quite distinct and almost clinical. The deliberate construction of the trackway between the two areas illustrates the intentions of the user communities for prolonged activity in the region.
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
