County: Kildare Site name: BLACKRATH/BALLYMOUNT
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: E002871
Author: Gillian McCarthy, Headland Archaeology Ltd.
Site type: House - vernacular house, Earthwork and Fulacht fia
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 681482m, N 700881m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.052364, -6.784619
This site was excavated as part of the N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford scheme, Phase 3: Kilcullen to Carlow. E2871 was identified as a possible hearth area of a house in the testing but upon investigation a townland boundary, a garden boundary and a fulacht fiadh spread were also uncovered. A number of stake-holes and small pits were also discovered in this area.
The townland boundary is visible on the first-edition OS map (1837–8) dividing the townland of Blackrath from the townland of Ballymount. The vernacular house is also visible located to the south of the townland boundary in the townland of Blackrath. All that remained of the house was a cobbled stone hearth and part of the eastern and southern foundations, which were not very substantial and may only have held a clay wall.
An L-shaped ditch joined into the townland boundary to create an enclosure with the house as the eastern side, the L-shaped ditch as the southern and western sides and the townland boundary as the northern side.
The fulacht spread lay to the south-west of the house. After the removal of the spread there was no visible sign of a trough but it looked as if some of the natural had been banked up to hold water.
To the north of the field boundary a number of pits and spreads were uncovered during additional stripping. They contained some burnt stone, fulacht material and some bone. It is possible that these were dumping pits or that material from upslope had gathered in them.
Wallingstown Business Park, Little Island, Cork
