Burnt mound in Mountgeorge

Identified in centre-line testing (E4110) in advance of the M11 Gorey to Enniscorthy road scheme and set aside for resolution as Mountgeorge 1 (Hardy et al. 2010, 51-2). It is situated on level ground at the bottom of a NW-facing slope with a small NE-SW stream c. 40m to the NW. It was excavated (E4178) by M. McNamara when a section of a winding palaeochannel (Wth 2-4m; D 0.2-0.6m) running generally E-W (exposed L c. 38m) was filled with silts, re-deposited natural and burnt stone layers. An oval pit (dims 1.26m E-W; 0.95m; N-S; D 0.26m) 4.5m NE of a bend in the stream was filled with sandy gravel and clay with pebbles. There was a small burnt stone spread (dims 1.2m x 1.02m; T 0.02m) just W of the pit. All the burnt stone deposits could be re-deposited and no artefacts were recovered. The burnt mound (WX016-045----) is c. 115m to the SW and the fulacht fia (WX016-054----) is c. 80m to the S. (McNamara 2012; 2013) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 26 November, 2013

Burnt mound in Mountgeorge is a Neolithic ritual or industrial site, dating to the third millennium BCE. Its significance lies in providing evidence of early land use and possibly ceremonial activity in the region.