County: Kerry Site name: Farrannacarriga 4
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: E005268
Author: Ed Danaher
Site type: Metalworking furnace
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 457163m, N 601284m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.144917, -10.087040
Stage (iii) Excavation was carried out on 28 October 2020 at the site of Farrannacarriga 4 in advance of construction of the N86 Ballynasare Lower to Annascaul and Doonore North to Ballygarret Road Improvement Scheme, Co. Kerry. The work was carried out under Ministerial Direction Number A070 and Registration Numbers E005268 (Excavation) and R000545 (Metal Detection), on behalf of Kerry County Council. The site was discovered in the western area of the Ballynasare Lower to Annascaul section of the scheme in the townland of Farrannacarriga during advance Stage (i) Test Excavations undertaken in 2020 by Archaeological Management Solutions Ltd.
Farrannacarriga 4 consisted of a single metalworking furnace pit located on a south-facing slope elevated above low-lying and marshy ground. It was sub-oval in plan and measured 0.82m by 0.65m by 0.1m in depth. Intense in-situ burning of the subsoil was present around the edges and the base of the pit and a large sub-angular sandstone was embedded in natural subsoil in the north-east edge. The pit contained a single fill of dark greyish-black charcoal, with occasional small patches of yellow sand and small lumps of slag throughout.
No artefacts were recovered. In the absence of absolute dating, given the nature of the site type, it would not be unreasonable to suggest an Iron Age or medieval date for the archaeology at Farrannacarriga 4.
Post-excavation analysis is ongoing and it is hoped that specialist reports, including radiocarbon dating and comparative research, will further enhance our understanding of the site.
Archaeological Management Solutions Ltd, Fahy’s Road, Kilrush, Co. Clare
