2007:AD27 - SHANKILL (AR133), Kilkenny

This site, located within the N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford road scheme along Contract 2, Phase 4B, Knocktopher to Powerstown, was a fulacht fiadh situated beside a silted-up old stream course. The stream meandered west to east from the north Kilkenny Mountains towards the River Barrow. The fulacht fiadh was nestled in a bend where the stream almost turned a right angle. The main features of the site were a burnt-stone mound, three troughs, an area of burning, a pit, and a collection of stake-holes situated east of the largest trough. This trough was almost square and measured 2.4m by 2.3m by 0.55m deep. A stake-hole in each corner suggested a wooden structure was associated with it. The second trough was more oval in shape and measured 1.9m by 1.4m by 0.33m. The third trough with associated burnt-mound material was found on the opposite stream bank. It was 2.6m by 1.8m by 0.55m deep and had stake-holes in three corners.

The features inside the bend of the stream were not cut directly into glacial till but through silt deposits that most probably formed when the stream was active. These silts created a raised area that perhaps influenced the choice of location of the fulacht fiadh. The troughs frequently self-filled with ground-water and rainwater during the excavation. The presence of washed-out burnt-mound material on the streambed and the identification of a silt deposit within the burnt mound suggest that the stream was active at the time of occupation. It is also possible that the washed-out material was a deliberately created platform. Not only were silts below and within the mound but they covered it as well. The mound itself measured 19m by 11m by 0.25m deep. Two shallow pits c. 1.8m by 1.6m were found 30m north-east of the main site.

120B Greenpark Road, Bray, Wicklow