County: Mayo Site name: Cloonaghboy
Sites and Monuments Record No.: - Licence number: A020/007, E3334
Author: Richard F. Gillespie, for Mayo County Council, Westport Road, Castlebar, Co. Mayo.
Site type: Burnt spread/fulacht fiadh
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 540680m, N 800544m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.950815, -8.903711
This site was excavated between 2 and 14 June 2005. It was newly identified during centreline testing (A020/003) and was fully excavated in advance of the construction of the N5 Charlestown bypass. It was located at 77.6m OD.
The site consisted of an irregular spread of burnt stone and charcoal, which had maximum dimensions of 5.75m east–west by 4.43m. This spread may have been disturbed by surface activity spreading or removing part of the ‘mound’ of burnt stone, but its lower level remained intact. It was overlain by 0.4m of sod and peat and rested on peat at the northern edge of a large peat basin. Small pockets of burnt stone and charcoal were cut into or enveloped by the peat and may be the remains of a trough. Charcoal samples retained should be adequate for radiocarbon dating. There were no artefacts at this site.
This is likely to be the poorly preserved remains of a fulacht fiadh of Bronze Age date.
