2003:2316 - LIXNAW: Clogher, Kerry

Kerry County Council intends to construct 52 houses at Clogher, Lixnaw, Co. Kerry. Monitoring was carried out for Phase 1 at the site, comprising of eight semi-detached houses. A curvilinear enclosure ditch was recorded during monitoring. The ditch measured up to 3m wide and the enclosure measured 45m north–south and continued beyond the boundary of the site to the west. A section was excavated through the ditch on the north-east side. It was 2.5m wide by 1.1m deep. The break of slope was sharp at the top and gradual at the base. The sides were steeply sloped and slightly concave and the base was slightly depressed, with irregular protrusions of limestone bedrock. The ditch contained two fills. The upper fill consisted of mid-grey/brown sandy silt with 15% medium to large stones, 10% large pebbles and infrequent flecks of charcoal. Below this was a fill of mid-grey sandy silt with 20% large to medium stones and infrequent charcoal flecks. It appeared to have been deposited by natural silting. A small assemblage of animal bone and teeth and a large lump of slag were recovered from the lower ditch fill.

A cut feature running approximately parallel to the ditch and possibly cut by it was also recorded in the section. It measured 1.2m wide by 0.8m deep and had rounded corners at the south-east end. It had a sharp break of slope on the south side at the top and a gradual break of slope at the base. The sides were steep and smooth and the base concave. It was filled by the upper fill of the ditch. Upon cleaning the north-eastern quadrant of the site, a curvilinear ditch measuring 1.2m wide could be seen. It contained a soft mid-brown silty fill similar to the upper ditch fill and ran into the ditch at its eastern end. This is almost certainly the continuation of the smaller ditch feature revealed in the section.

A pit located south of the enclosure ditch was excavated to facilitate the construction of the access road. It was irregular in plan and measured 3m by 1.7m by 0.6m. The break of slope was sharp at the top and at the base, except on the eastern side, where it was gradual. The sides were steep at the north, west and south and gently sloping at the east. The pit contained two fills. The upper fill consisted of dark- to mid-grey, charcoal-rich silty clay with 40% heat-shattered stone and small subangular stones. The basal fill of the pit consisted of midbrown/ yellow clay with moderate amounts of charcoal and occasional shattered stone. This elongated pit was morphologically similar to a fulacht trough and its fill consisted of similar fulacht material (i.e. charcoal-rich material and heatshattered angular stone). The clay lining at the base of the pit was deliberately placed so that the pit could be used to contain water.

Further test excavations were undertaken in the remainder of the development site. Seventeen trenches were excavated. Archaeological features were found in six of them; these included a fulacht fiadh, pits containing charcoal and shattered stone, post-holes and numerous stake-holes.

3 Canal Place, Tralee, Co. Kerry