County: Limerick Site name: COONAGH WEST
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: E002897
Author: Finn Delaney, Eachtra Archaeological Projects
Site type: Burnt mound
Period/Dating: Bronze Age (2200 BC-801 BC)
ITM: E 553119m, N 656879m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.661072, -8.692993
A burnt spread was discovered at Coonagh West, Co. Limerick, during monitoring of phase 3 of the LSRRII/Limerick tunnel PPP scheme.
The burnt spread measured 7.6m north–south by 7.5m and 0.25m in depth. It was a black silty clay matrix with a high density of heat-shattered stone and occasional charcoal fragments. The burnt spread continued to the north and probably extended beyond the line of the CPO. An Early Bronze Age radiocarbon date of 2343–2138 cal BC (uba-8471) was returned from charcoal in the burnt spread.
A subrectangular trough was cut into the underlying boulder clay. The trough was steep-sided and the excavated portion measured 1.6m east–west by 1.2m and had a maximum depth of 1m. The trough was filled on the eastern side with a grey/brown silt and on the western side with material from the burnt spread. A grey silt with frequent charcoal flecks and decayed wood fragments lined the sides of the trough and a compact deposit of brown/grey coarse sand with frequent weathered, heat-shattered stone filled the base.
A possible water channel was also cut into the boulder clay. It was 1m wide and 0.35m deep and it had an irregular, roughly U-shaped profile. It ran from north to south and towards the south the channel diverged into two shallower channels. It was filled solely with material from the burnt spread.
Ballycurreen Industrial Estate, Kinsale Road, Cork
