What is recorded here

In the early 1200s, a person raked elm branches into a narrow oval pit at Drumquin and smothered the flames until they became charcoal. They cut again before the first batch cooled, filling the shallow hole with two quick fires instead of one slow burn. The pit sat low on a sheltered slope, hiding its smoke and heat from the wind. That much charcoal needed a purpose, perhaps a blacksmith's anvil or a kitchen that hungered for steady heat.

A shall oval pit (4m x 1.6m; D 0.28m) with a flat base aligned N-S was excavated in 2004 (Casey 2006, Licence no. 04E0052) in advance of the N18 Ennis bypass. It was situated in a sheltered area close to the bottom of a slope. Its charcoal-rich fill indicated that two fires had been lit in quick succession. Elm charcoal returned a radiocarbon date of AD 1010-1180 (Beta-211577). The size and contents of the pit suggest that it functioned as a charcoal-production pit (Casey 2007, 32, no. 137; Bermingham, Casey, Hull and Taylor 2012, 73-4) Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 10 October 2016

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