What is recorded here

Half a metre beneath the damp hollow on Ballina’s north-west edge, a ten-metre ribbon of charcoal soil and fire-cracked stone waited for discovery. People may have heated water, cooked food or simply marked the wet ground with embers, but the mound kept that choice hidden until a trench opened it in 2017. Now a geotextile cover lies across the buried seam, holding the hot memory of the place beneath the green field.

In a green field site on the NW side of Ballina town. This burnt mound was discovered in 2017 during archaeological testing (Licence no. 17E0552) in advance of a proposed development (McHugh 2017). At this location the test trench extended across a slight hollow in an area of damp ground, but there was no surface indication of the burnt mound. It was exposed at a depth of c. 0.5m below the surface, and was evident as a layer (10m E–W) of charcoal-enriched soil, with frequent inclusions of fire-cracked stones. The N-S extent of the layer remains unknown as it extends beyond the limits of the test trench (Wth 1.9m N-S). A protective geotextile cover was placed over it and the trench was backfilled. (McHugh 2017, 63-65). Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 9 January 2020

Burnt mound in Ballina (tirawley By.) is a prehistoric ritual or domestic feature, typically dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, characterized by the accumulation of heat-shattered stones. Its discovery contributes to understanding of early human activity in the region.

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