2007:1812 - Coolnagoppoge, Waterford

NMI Burial Excavation Records

County: Waterford Site name: Coolnagoppoge

Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 07E0314

Author: Maurice F. Hurley, 6 Clarence Court, St Luke’s Cork.

Site type: Burnt mound

Period/Dating:

ITM: E 641590m, N 598214m

Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.134230, -7.392480

Tramore golf-course was being expanded and upgraded. The extension was to the existing golf-course in the townland of Cool nag oppoge.
All areas subject to extensive soil moving and groundworks relating to the development of the golf-course were monitored. As the work was carried out in stages, the monitoring was undertaken as necessary from early May through to early September 2007. Most of the topsoil removal had been completed in dry weather conditions during May.
Topsoil-stripping in the areas of the new ranges was to a general depth of 0.3m. The soil was mostly a fine sandy loam. The use of a 2m-wide bladed bucket (toothless) made identification of anomalies in the topsoil/subsoil interface easy.
A mound with a scattering of shattered stone was observed, suggesting the presence of a fulacht fiadh. The mound was incorporated within and formed part of a field bank. Approximately 0.2m had been removed from the bank when the burnt material became obvious; c. 0.2m of topsoil was removed from the adjacent field. At the time of discovery the bank and adjacent field were heavily overgrown by gorse.
The mound stood to a height of c. 1.3m and extends c. 6m. The burnt material, blackened soil, charcoal and shattered stone, covered a maximum area of c. 12m2. A proposal to retain the feature in situ in accordance with national policy was produced. It was proposed to create a bunker to the west of the monument; consequently the mound would be protected by a c. 2–2.5m-high bank of introduced topsoil. This was accepted by the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government. No other archaeological features were observed nor were any artefacts of archaeological significance recovered.