County: Dublin Site name: WARD LOWER
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 03E1356 ext.
Author: Holger Schweitzer, for CRDS Ltd.
Site type: Fulacht fia
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 709556m, N 745264m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.446063, -6.350766
The site (Site 7) of a fulacht fiadh was detected and excavated as part of the archaeological mitigation of the N2 Finglas–Ashbourne road scheme (Appendix II). Excavation took place between 25 March and 2 April 2004. It was located within the townland of The Ward Lower, Co. Dublin, within a large arable field north of the R121 road and adjacent to the south of the Ward River.
The removed topsoil consisted of dark loamy soil with occasional small and middle-sized stones. It varied in depth between 0.25m and 0.4m. The natural subsoil consisted of yellowish-brown silty clay.
The excavation was carried out in an area covering in total 250m2. The archaeological features and deposits consisted of a single irregularly shaped spread of burnt-mound material immediately adjacent to the south of a tributary of the Ward River. Modern stream realignments and modern agricultural activity truncated the archaeological deposits. Beneath the burnt spread two troughs were discovered. While one was found fully intact, the second trough was truncated by modern stream alignment works. Two shallow pits containing burnt-mound material were also excavated as well as a small hearth with evidence for in situ burning. No archaeological finds were recovered during investigations at the site.
Unit 4, Dundrum Business Park, Dublin 14
