2005:603 - GALWAY: Lough Atalia, Renmore, Galway

Excavation of a fulacht fiadh took place over six successive weekends in the months of August and September 2005. All the digging was carried out manually in often very wet conditions. Excavation took the form of initially stripping a 4m2 area between the arms of the mound in the area most likely to locate the trough. Following a trowel-back and further investigative work, excavation was concentrated on a 1.5m by 2m sondage in the south-eastern corner of the test area. The stratigraphy exposed was a sod and topsoil layer overlying a sterile dark-brown peat 0.3m in depth. Below this was a compact layer of fire-shattered stones in a charcoal-enriched silty matrix, with occasional roots and larger stones 0.4m in length.

No finds or datable evidence were retrieved from this context. At the very base of the mound was a shallow artificial cut that sloped gradually southwards towards the baulk line. This cut broke to an uneven base and was backfilled with wood fragments, samples of which were taken for further analysis. The cut may have been the outer edge of a sunken trough, but this interpretation could not be confirmed. The mound material measured c. 0.6m in depth and bottomed out to a grey/white natural boulder clay. Further excavation was not possible due to tidal flooding and the site was backfilled and resodded to the original contours.