County: Wexford Site name: Ballygullen 5
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: E004172
Author: Bruce Sutton, for TVAS (Ireland) Ltd, Ahish, Ballinruan, Crusheen, Co. Clare.
Site type: Burnt mound
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 710434m, N 654122m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.627086, -6.368756
Ballygullen 5 was located on the proposed M11 Gorey to Enniscorthy scheme. The site was identified in a rectangular crop-planted field which slopes from the north-east to the south-west with a plateau in the middle on the south-west slope.
Ballygullen 5 consisted of a small shallow burnt mound with an underlying trough and associated stake-holes. The burnt-mound material formed a subcircular mound measuring 10.1m east to west by 8.2m and consisted of loose black silty clay with a high concentration of heat-affected stone.
A shallow subrectangular trough, measuring 2.45m by 1.54m, was found beneath the mound. The trough had vertical sides which tapered to a flat base at a maximum depth of 0.15m. A stake-hole was identified at each corner of the trough base, which may have acted as anchor points for a timber lining. No timber survived; however, lines of sand were noted at the base, which may represent the impressions of the original trough lining. A small cluster of stake-holes was uncovered at the southern side of the trough, perhaps evidence of a windbreak.
Agricultural activity, plough furrows and modern drainage features were identified on this site. The remnants of burnt-mound material were visible in some of these modern linear features and natural undulations on the site.
