County: Kildare Site name: COOLANE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: E002995
Author: Tara Doyle, Headland Archaeology Ltd.
Site type: Fulacht fia
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 676534m, N 687496m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.932821, -6.861574
This site was excavated as part of the N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford scheme, Phase 3: Kilcullen to Carlow. This site was situated on agricultural land that sloped gently from south to north; a drain formed a field boundary to the immediate south. An area measuring 534m2 was stripped of topsoil.
Excavation revealed a burnt mound measuring 6.9m by 5m at the southern end of the site. Two troughs, three post-holes and two pits were located under the burnt-mound material. Trough 1 was orientated north-east/south-west and was subrectangular in shape. It measured 2.95m long by 1.1m wide and was 0.43m deep. Two stake-holes were located at the base and were placed 0.5m from each other. Two fills were identified within the trough: the lowermost was a compact yellow/grey/white ash, the upper fill comprised compact black silt clay with frequent inclusions of heat-shattered sandstone. Trough 2 was located c. 2.5m to the north-east. It was also subrectangular in shape and was orientated north-west/south-east. It measured 1.7m by 0.55m wide and 0.3m deep and was filled with a lower compact black silt clay with frequent heat-shattered stone and an upper compact dark-grey silt with occasional stones. A single stake-hole was identified 0.04m south-east of Trough 2 and a post-hole was located c. 0.8m south-west of it. It measured 0.15m by 0.14m and was 0.24m deep. It was filled with compact dark-brown/black clay silt.
Pit 1 was located 0.75m south-east of Trough 1 and was sub-oval in plan. It measured 1.7m by 1.32m and was 0.35m deep. A total of fourteen stake-holes were cut into the base of the pit; these roughly formed a circle. The pit had a single fill of dark-brown/black silt sand with frequent heat-shattered stone inclusions. Pit 2 was located c. 1.85m north-east of Pit 1. It was a small pit and measured 0.4m long by 0.3m wide and 0.2m deep. Two post-holes were identified c. 1m south-east and south-west of Pit 2. A thumbnail scraper was retrieved from the topsoil to the north of the mound. No other finds were recovered from the site.
Unit 1, Wallingstown Business Park, Little Island, Cork
