What is recorded here

Beneath the Monavalley factory in Tralee, four pits held prehistoric remains, including a stone-lined hole where reused rubbing stones framed ancient human activity. Workers uncovered iron slag and buried tools before building above them, erasing the visible marker but preserving the shape of forgotten labour. The site vanished into modern development, yet the geometry of those pits still records the hands that dug them.

Pit no: C28 - Excavation by Jacinta Kiely under licence no. 99E0360 was summarised as follows; 'Monitoring of all ground disturbance aspects of a factory site in the Monavalley Industrial Estate, in the northern part of Tralee town, was undertaken to comply with a planning condition. An area of archaeological stratigraphy was noted during topsoil-stripping and was subsequently excavated. Four pits were excavated. One of the pits, measuring 1.6m north-south by 0.9m and 0.98m deep, was stone-lined on the south-east side. A saddle quern and a rubbing stone had been reused to line the pit. Iron slag was recovered from the upper fill. A second large pit was found 1m to the south-west; it measured 3.1m north-south by 2.7m and 0.8m deep. Two small pits were found to the south and east. They measured 0.8m north-south by 0.76m by 0.2m deep and 0.75m north-south by 0.7m by 0.15m deep. The material recovered from one of the large pits would suggest that they are prehistoric in date. Post-excavation work is continuing' (Kiely 2000,116-7; www.excavations.ie 1999:341; Kiely and Dunne 2005, 45). The evidence indicates that the monument has been totally removed (both above- and below-ground archaeology). In consequence, it will not be included in the revised RMP. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 24 June 2022

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.