2011:297 - BALLYOUGHTRAGH NORTH, Kerry

Excavations were undertaken within the presbytery grounds at Ballyoughtragh North, Milltown. The northern limits of the grounds contain the denuded remains of KE047-056, classified as an enclosure. No coherent remains of this monument are visible today owing to the woodland growth, but a curving section of the trackway boundary most likely reflects—or possibly forms part of—the bank of the monument. The monument was excluded from any excavation works. Ballyoughtragh is situated in a rich archaeological area that has been settled by people since the Neolithic period.
Initial test excavation results identified two coherent areas of archaeology, Areas 1 and 2.
The archaeology revealed in Area 1 was dominated by a coherent arrangement defined by six post-holes that had been interpreted in the previous testing as a prehistoric roundhouse (Excavations 2007, no. 682, 07E0887; Dunne and Bartlett 2007, 5). The roundhouse, which had been truncated by a modern agricultural field drain, measured 5.3m east–west by 4.6m. It had a central hearth and associated pit as well as a complex arrangement of 34 stake-holes focused on the hearth. Several other associated features, including thirteen pits and six post-holes, were also recorded. The hearth was manifest as an area of intense burning of the subsoil. It was somewhat kidney-shaped in plan, with maximum dimensions of 1.28m east–west x 0.98m.
Two concentrations of activity were identified in Area 2. The first comprised the levelled remains of a fulacht fiadh with associated trough and pits. The fulacht had been severely reduced and disturbed by several modern linear drainage and sewerage pipes. What was left of the mound could only be described as a thin burnt spread which was amorphous in plan, with maximum dimensions of 11.1m north-west/south-east x 8m x 0.2m in thickness.
The fulacht spread consisted of two distinct layers. The basal layer comprised light to mid-grey silty sandy clay, with inclusions of occasional heat-shattered stones and occasional charcoal flecks and small chunks. The secondary layer consisted of dark brownish-black clayey silt, with frequent heat-shattered stones and frequent charcoal flecks and small chunks.
The trough, situated 1.4m north-west of the spread, was suboval in plan; it measured 2.54m north-east/south-west x 1.26m x 0.43m in depth, with an overall concave profile and a flat base at the centre. Adjacent to the trough there was a second pit, which was linked to the trough by a small channel and may have acted as a feeder to the trough.
A second area of archaeological activity was excavated c. 8.6m from the fulacht and essentially comprised the remains of a D-shaped structure defined by a coherent arc of seven post-holes, as well as associated features including numerous pits, post- and stake-holes. The structure had maximum external dimensions of 6.1m north–south by 3.7m. A pit and two post-holes were recorded within the D-shaped structure while four pits, four post-holes and twelve stake-holes were found outside the structure.
The artefactual assemblage recovered from the excavation was small. Indeed, Area 1 produced only a single piece of chert debitage and two modern ceramic fragments. In Area 2 a total of eighteen artefacts were recovered, the vast majority of which came from a pit within the D-shaped structure and comprised a cache of twelve hammer-stones, a struck limestone flake, a piece of worked chert, a rubbing stone and an anvil stone.
An area rich in subsurface prehistoric settlement archaeology, revealed in pre-development testing, was fully excavated. The roundhouse excavated in Area 1 is very similar in scale, setting and morphological characteristics to the example recorded in 2007 c. 110m to the north in the adjoining field that returned a radiocarbon date from the Middle Bronze Age.
The proximity of the D-shaped structure to the fulacht fiadh and the presence of heat-shattered stones may indicate that the two areas of activity are contemporaneous. In addition, the artefact assemblage recovered, including the cache of possible hammer-stones/rubbing stones, anvil stone and polishing stone, would not be out of place in the Bronze Age. The precise nature of the D-shaped structure is currently unknown, but it may be related to the myriad of activities that are associated with fulachta fiadh.
The archaeology recorded at Ballyoughtragh North appears to reflect evidence for intense settlement activity at the site during the Bronze Age and very much reflects the relict, ritual, prehistoric recorded archaeology of the area. Indeed, it neatly completes the overall archaeological record array and is therefore of immense importance to our understanding of the prehistory of the area and of the wider Kerry area.

Reference
Dunne, L. and Bartlett, T. 2007 Archaeological Testing Report, Ballyoughtragh North, Milltown, Co. Kerry. Unpublished excavation report, Eachtra Archaeological Projects.

Laurence Dunne Archaeology, 3 Lios Na Lohart, Ballyvelly, Tralee, Co. Kerry