County: Cork Site name: CASTLECOOKE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 09E0194
Author: Bernice Molloy, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd, 27 Merrion Square, Dublin 2.
Site type: Fulacht fiadh
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 586598m, N 604949m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.196172, -8.196034
This site was excavated during topsoil-stripping of the BGE Curraleigh West to Midleton Gas Pipeline. Excavation revealed a burnt mound and four associated troughs. The site was situated on a gentle east-facing slope in a generally flat marshy pasture field, which had been extensively drained by the landowners. Natural subsoil consisted of compact yellow/grey clay with occasional sand and gravel patches. Topsoil varied in depth between 0.1m and 0.05m. The OS map indicates a large number of springs rising in this general area, one of which is located in close proximity to the site. The land to the west of this site is depicted as marshy. The site was radiocarbon-dated to 2284–2059 BC (UB 13631).
Two phases of activity were identified. The first consisted of three troughs and a pit. The troughs were mainly subrectangular or oval in plan, and varied between 1.2m and 2.4m in length, 1.08m and 1.95m in width and 0.38m and 0.44m in depth. These features were sealed by a burnt mound which measured 14.4m (east–west) by 9.65m. It had a maximum depth of 0.22m. The second phase of activity consisted of one trough truncating the burnt mound. This trough was sub-oval in plan and measured 1.74m (north–south) by 1.3m and had a maximum depth of 0.65m.
