What is recorded here

Burnt mound in Grallagh (costello By.) is a low, subcircular rise about twelve metres wide on the edge of wet, boggy ground beside a spring in County Mayo. Heat-shattered stone and charcoal-rich soil still show through where the sod was lost, suggesting people heated water or food there before the mound was partly levelled. The nearby stream, now forced into a field drain, may have carried away the dark water that once hissed and steamed at this quiet edge of the pasture.

In pasture, on the edge of a naturally sheltered depression of wet, boggy ground at the base of a NW-facing slope, adjacent to a spring which flows from the base of the slope; an outflow stream extends to NW and is now channelled into a field drain. This possible fulacht fia appears to have been partly levelled in the past. It is evident as a low, subcircular rise (diam. c. 12m), with indistinct edges which merge to S with gently rising ground. The exact limits of the mound are difficult to determine. When inspected in 1998, a portion the N edge of the mound was denuded of sod, revealing characteristic heat-shattered stone in black charcoal-rich soil. A burnt mound (MA103-066001-) is located 8m to NE. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 23 November 2022

Burnt mound in Grallagh is a Bronze Age ritual or industrial site, characterized by the presence of heat-shattered stones, likely used for water heating or cooking. Its location near a spring suggests it was part of a broader pattern of water-related activity in the landscape.

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