County: Laois Site name: Addergoole 1
Sites and Monuments Record No.: - Licence number: A015/103, E2195
Author: John Lynch, for Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd, Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth.
Site type: Burnt-mound spread
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 633669m, N 675577m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.830097, -7.500367
An excavation was carried out, in response to an assessment in advance of the proposed M7 Portlaoise to Castletown/M8 Portlaoise to Cullahill motorway scheme, between April and May 2006. The work was carried out on behalf of Laois County Council and the National Roads Authority.
Addergoole 1 was identified as the remains of a fulacht fiadh following the assessment of Testing Area 11. Contract 1 of the project incorporated the Portlaoise to Cullahill section of the scheme, consisting of c. 14km of motorway, which extends from Aghaboe to south of Cullahill through the townlands from Gortnaclea to Oldtown. Addergoole 1 was located east of a small stream.
Topsoil-stripping on this site revealed a burnt-mound spread. A number of features including three troughs were found beneath the spread. One trough was rectangular in shape (4.7m by 2.5m by 0.8m), with rounded corners that possibly once held posts. It was filled with silty clay deposits with burnt limestones concentrated at the sides and charcoal towards the centre. An oval pit (2.2m by 1.52m by 0.18m) may originally have been cut as a trough but appears to have been unused and to have filled naturally with alluvial deposits. At the north of the mound was a sub-oval trough (1.56m by 1.5m by 0.6m) that contained silty clay with burnt limestones and sandstones and charcoal inclusions. The natural deposition of white palaeochannel from the nearby stream both pre-dated and sealed the site.
All of the samples from this site have yet to be analysed.
