What is recorded here

Kilmorebrannagh 1 held two wooden troughs and four pits beneath a thin skin of fire-cracked sandstone, waiting for the motorway works to reveal them. The orange clay near the troughs still carried the ghost of heat, suggesting a hearth where water was brought to a rolling boil. Plough furrows and land drains had already cut through much of the site, but the timber linings remained intact long enough to be lifted and studied.

In 2002 archaeological testing (Licence No. 02E1075) was carried out before construction of the proposed M4 Kinnegad-Enfield-Kilcock Motorway Scheme and a fulacht fia spread was identified. The site was designated Kilmorebrannagh 1 and was subsequently excavated. A spread of fire-cracked, blackened sandstone measuring 13m by 21m was exposed directly overlying the natural gravels. It had a maximum depth of 0.06m, and when it was removed a series of pits and two troughs were exposed. Both troughs contained lining timbers in situ that were removed for analysis and preservation. One of the troughs was sub-circular, measuring 1.84m by 1.61m by 0.14m deep, and the second was rectangular, measuring 1.78m by 1.62m by 0.26m deep. Near the troughs was an area of highly oxidised orange clay that may have been the location of a hearth. Four pits, all subcircular, were identified near the troughs and were similarly filled with fulacht fia material. No finds of a prehistoric nature were identified during excavation. The site had been largely destroyed by recent agricultural activity, and numerous plough furrows and land drains cut through it. (www.excavations.ie) Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 10 June 2011

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