Fulacht fia in Coill Bhaile Uí Fhlaithimh — Report the wrong picture

What is recorded here

Thirty centuries of rain have not erased the horseshoe mound on Cummeen's boggy slopes, where a sixty-centimetre gap still invites entry into its enclosed chamber. People heated water inside that curve, perhaps cooked food or bathed in the mountains' own heat, then left the stones standing as a marker of life sustained. The open west side faces the valley and the sea beyond, as if the mound were built to receive what the mountain could not keep.

A large horseshoe-shaped mound situated on rough boggy ground on the lower NNW slopes of Cummeen mountain. It measures c. 17.9m E-W x 12m N-S overall and rises a maximum of about 2m above the surrounding ground level and 1.6m above the enclosed space. The height decreases considerably towards the open W side where the gap between the 2 arms of the horseshoe is .6m wide. This gap is lined on either side by boulder revetment and this continues for a short distance along both the adjacent inner and outer flanks of the mound, and 2 or 3 boulders are also visible at the N edge of the interior. Directly outside the gap, the ground is raised slightly for a distance of c. 4m and this area contains a shallow hollow measuring 2m x 1.5m; it is possible that this raised area represents material excavated from the mound to convert it to use as an animal pen or hut. Some burnt and fire-cracked stones are visible in the make-up of the mound but it is not clear whether these are an original feature of the site or whether they result from more recent burning off of vegetation. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 1563. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 5 August 2013

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