County: Kerry Site name: Caheragh
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 07E1136 ext.
Author: Martin E. Byrne, Byrne Mullins & Associates, 7 Cnoc Na Greine Square, Kilcullen, Co. Kildare.
Site type: Burnt spread
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 509450m, N 543373m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.213890, -9.452500
Testing was undertaken at the site of a proposed limestone quarry in early February 2008. The site is located c. 2km south of Castleisland and on the western side of the R577 road. There are two monuments located to the south of the development area, an enclosure site (KE040–076) and a ringfort (KE040–077). There is a limekiln to the north of the proposed development area and the curving nature of a field boundary and stream to the immediate north-west of the lands is suggestive of the remains of a large enclosure.
A total of 39 trenches were excavated within the development lands. This indicated that the only disturbance of the surface of the underlying subsoil was caused by previous drainage works. One such drain was cut through a matrix of charcoal, ash and heat-shattered stones, spread over an area of c. 1.8m in the western area of the site. The nature of this spread is reminiscence of a levelled fulacht fiadh.
It was subsequently suggested that buffer zones be established around the archaeological monuments, that a programme of monitoring be required of the development and that the area of the burnt spread be subjected to further investigation.
