What is recorded here

Ballyboe Glencar Burnt Mound is a crushed ridge of charcoal-stained clay and hot stone on an east-facing slope above a River Swilly tributary. Farm tools and drainage works scattered much of the original shape, leaving only a shallow band of burnt material behind. The surviving charcoal preserves hazel, alder, holly and willow, suggesting people heated water or earth there before the field was remade. It is a small, damaged ghost of repeated fire, still warm in memory though no longer whole.

Located on an east-facing slope of a field to the north of a tributary of the River Swilly. In 2004 a burnt mound was discovered at this location during monitoring of works associated with the Letterkenny sewerage improvement scheme. The burnt mound was subsequently fully excavated (04E1473). The site presented as a deposit of charcoal-stained clay with much burnt stone. The main concentration of burnt material was a maximum of 5m long and 3m wide. The original mound had been disturbed as a result of agricultural activity and only the lower part survived, to a depth of 0.05-0.18m. This overlay fine grey sand with some charcoal. Agricultural activity had resulted in the deposition of burnt material to the east of the main mound. There was no evidence for a hearth associated with the burnt mound and no finds were recovered. Samples of charcoal indicated that wood four tree species was used: hazel, alder, holly and willow. A post medieval field drain was uncovered 8m to the east of the burnt mound. (McQuade 2007, 81). Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 8 September 2015

Burnt mound, Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age. These features are commonly associated with ritual or industrial activities, and their presence indicates early human settlement and land use in the region.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.