County: Mayo Site name: Sonnagh
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: A020/077, E3359
Author: Agnes Kerrigan, for Mayo County Council, Drummin, Westport, Co. Mayo.
Site type: Fulacht fiadh and burnt spread
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 546248m, N 800589m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.951828, -8.818891
Area I
Excavation was undertaken on this site on 17–26 July 2006. The site was newly identified during the monitoring of topsoil removal by the contractors (A020/075) and was fully excavated in advance of the construction of the N5 Charlestown bypass. It was located at an altitude of 69.61m OD in a blanket peat deposit. Area I was situated 30m east of Area II.
The oval mound measured 12.08m east–west by 4.8m by 0.04–0.39m thick. It was composed of a compact black, charcoal-rich silty matrix with frequent heat-affected stones. The mound sealed the disturbed remnants of a wooden trough, which was cut into the underlying peat.
The trough was constructed of horizontally placed planks orientated east–west, with a number of associated stakes and posts. The planks were split roundwoods, 0.19–0.69m long by 0.09–0.26m wide. Ten wooden stakes and posts were identified. They were all set vertically around the trough and one was found underneath the surviving base timbers. Several showed distinct working, with chisel and pencil ends.
Area II
This was a thin layer of burnt-material spread sitting on the underlying peat. It measured 2.9m east–west by 1.53m by 0.08–0.4m thick. It was a moderately compact, mid-black mix of charcoal-rich peaty silt with heat-affected stones. It overlay a peat layer, which in turn overlay a moderately compact, white/grey waterlogged silt, possibly boulder clay. There were no other features of archaeological note identified in this area.
