Burnt mound in Ballaghboy

In wet pasture, on the W bank of a stream and c. 20m E of a fulacht fia (SL040-238001-). This monument was discovered during the construction of the Curlew bypass and excavated in 1995 (Channing 1998a, 154). A spread (10m x 6m) of burnt stone in a reddish-brown silty clay matrix with a high peat content and occasional flecks of charcoal. Excavation revealed a pit and two post-holes in the N half of the spread. The unlined pit (1.4m E-W; 0.7m N-S; D 0.28m) which was roughly oval in plan was cut into the subsoil, filled with burnt material and did not retain water. The post-holes were found c. 1.2m to E of the pit and both were circular in plan (diam. c. 0.1m; D c. 0.11m). The Red Earl's road (SL033-147---), which is of medieval date, follows the townland boundary immediately to E of the stream. (Channing 1996, 1-9) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005). Date of upload: 18 January 2008

Burnt mound in Ballaghboy is a fulacht fia, dating to the Early to Middle Bronze Age. It is significant as a common type of prehistoric cooking or processing site in Ireland, often associated with ritual or domestic activity.