2007:745 - BALLYMOUNT, Kildare

This site was excavated as part of the N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford scheme, Phase 3: Kilcullen to Carlow. E2872 was identified in the testing as a fulacht fiadh. The burnt mound measured 16m north–south by 9m and 0.8m maximum depth. It contained a large amount of charcoal and burnt sandstone. Under the burnt mound lay a possible buried topsoil layer into which a number of features were cut. A trough located in the centre of the spread measured 1.8m north–south by 1.9m and 0.5m in depth. There were eight stake-holes on the northern edge of the trough and fifteen in its base. The stake-holes in the base of the trough were located in the northern, western and south-eastern edge. The trough was filled with material from the burnt mound. To the north of the trough was a pit also cut into this buried topsoil layer. It was filled by burnt-mound material and measured c. 1.2m in diameter. Some of this buried topsoil layer was disturbed by animal activity and a rabbit skull was found within it. A number of depressions were also found underneath this layer, but it is unclear if they are naturally occurring or were formed by man or animal. A number of pits lay around the burnt mound, one of which contained some animal bone, including a jawbone. A modern linear ditch ran through the western part of the site and is a field boundary that was also identified in adjacent sites E2873 and E2874 (see Nos 746–7, Excavations 2007).