What is recorded here

Two small pits in Cool West reveal ancient fulachta fiadh where hot stones once boiled water for food or baths. They lie exposed at the base of a tall peat bank on Valencia Island, preserving fire-shattered stone and gravel from hands that worked the earth thousands of years ago. The bare earth still holds the shape of that labour, waiting for imagination to complete the scene.

Two fulachta fiadh are located in cutaway bog close to the E margin of Emlagh Bog, Valencia Island. They lie exposed in section at the base of a 3m high field boundary, formed by an uncut bank of peat, and survive as two small pits, c .5m long. From one pit a sample of ling charcoal yielded a radiocarbon date of 3400±90 BP (Mitchell 1989, 77). Two low piles of upcast gravel and fire-shattered stone occur, in section, alongside the pits. The above description is derived from A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan (compilers), 'The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry'. Cork University Press (1996), no. 423. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 28 July 2013

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