County: Kildare Site name: MILLENNIUM PARK, WESTERN LINK ROAD, JIGGINSTOWN, NAAS
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 05E0524
Author: Teresa Bolger, c/o Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd, 27 Merrion Square, Dublin 2.
Site type: Fulacht fiadh
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 689532m, N 719745m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.220565, -6.659308
Monitoring of topsoil-stripping associated with the construction of the Millenium Park Western Link Road was carried out by Sinéad Phelan (see No. 774 above, 05E0442). The site of a fulacht fiadh or burnt mound was identified 300m north of the R445. This area was cordoned off and excavated between 16 and 26 May 2005.
The burnt mound was originally U-shaped. It had a single shallow trough, located within the arms of the U, with evidence for a wooden internal structure. The mound sealed an original peat deposit and also a scatter of stake-holes, which formed the outline of a possible oval structure. Samples were submitted for radiocarbon dating. The one from the mound returned a date of 3869 6 52 BP (2480–2190 cal BC at 2 sigma), while that from the trough was 3926 6 71 BP (2620–2190 cal BC at 2 sigma).
