2008:995 - Cornecassa Demesne, Monaghan

Testing as part of an assessment was carried out in advance of the construction of a housing development. Thirty test-trenches, 2m wide, giving a total of 1158 linear metres, were excavated. A petrological deposit, in a black silt matrix, with occasional charcoal fleck inclusions, occurred in Trenches 6, 7 and 8. Feature 1 measured c. 12m west–east by c. 4.5m, and was apparently a fairly thin deposit, c. 0.2m thick, tapering at the edges. An outlying deposit, Feature 2, was about 1m north of Feature 1, also in Trench 8. Feature 2 was curvilinear and measured c. 0.4m in diameter. It consisted of 50% orange/brown stone, possibly heat-affected, in a matrix of grey silt with moderately occurring charcoal flecks. This material is most likely a monument of fulacht fiadh type. The siting is typical for this type of site, on rising ground, in a marshy area, which may well have been a lake in antiquity, close to a stream. The proposed development will impact on the archaeological material.