County: Laois Site name: Clonroosk/Clonboyne
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 07E0990
Author: Sinead Phelan and Faith Bailey, for Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd, 120B Greenpark Road, Bray, Co. Wicklow.
Site type: Burnt-mound activity, charcoal clamps
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 645182m, N 699313m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.042568, -7.326217
An excavation was carried out at two sites along the path of the proposed Togher foul sewer servicing scheme, which is located in Portlaoise. Two sites, Clonboyne 1 and Cloonroosk 1, were fully excavated between 6 and 9 November 2007. This work follows a programme of testing carried out by Sinead Phelan at AAP 1 and 3 (see No. 1050 above, 07E0931). The areas of archaeological potential were identified during a desktop assessment of the scheme. Nothing of archaeological significance was discovered during the testing of these areas, but further monitoring of topsoil removal was recommended. Monitoring was carried out in late October 2007 and two areas of archaeological activity, Clonboyne 1 and Cloonroosk 1, were identified and cordoned off in advance of full archaeological excavation.
Clonboyne 1, a greenfield site in pasture, was the larger of the two sites, with three separate areas of archaeological activity. The site was located to the immediate west of a small stream. A large housing development is currently under construction to the immediate north of the site, which is located c. 330m to the south-east of the R445 (Mountrath road). An initial interpretation of the archaeological remains suggests that two site types are present within this area. The first consists of two possible charcoal clamps, which can be medieval or post-medieval in date. These are represented by shallow pits used during the production of charcoal. The second site type is represented by the fulacht fiadh, or burnt mound, which is typically a Bronze Age site. A distance of 40m separates these two areas, with a spread of burnt material located in between, which may relate to the charcoal clamps.
Cloonroosk 1 was the smaller site and consisted of one small area of archaeological deposits measuring 5m by 5m. This site was located to the north of AAP 1 and to the immediate north of the Ballyfin road. These remains are also likely to represent disturbed fulacht fiadh activity at this site. However, the remains appear to be disturbed as the area is marked as planted with conifer trees on the first-edition OS map.
