Fulacht fia in Ballybrown (pubblebrien By.)

Identified during archaeological monitoring of topsoil stripping associated with a residential development at Clarina Village. Excavated under licence no. 03E1603 by Ken Wiggins (Wiggins 2004), the results were summarised as ‘The archaeological area had maximum dimensions of c. 30m east-west by c. 20m. It was a large, roughly circular spread of dark-grey silty clay containing numerous pieces of heat-shattered sandstone. Excavations took place between 29 September and 15 October 2003. Excavation revealed a trough in the subsoil, measuring 4.72m east-west by 3.22m by up to 1.04m deep. The primary fill was black silty clay containing a high percentage of burnt sandstone; the secondary fill contained two wooden stakes and many other fragments of worked wood. An ancillary pit measured 1.32m east-west by 1.32m by up to 0.4m deep. The two fills contained some fragments of wood and burnt stone. The site, which appears to be the levelled remains of a fulacht fiadh, also contained a scattering of smaller pit-like features contemporary with the trough. It was also criss-crossed by a network of narrow drainage channels of modern origin’ (www.excavations.ie; Wiggins 2006, 310). Compiled by: Martin Fitzpatrick Date upload: 26 June 2020