Fulacht fia in Lisnamuck — Report the wrong picture

What is recorded here

Hot stones split and flew when water struck them, filling the air above Lisnamuck with steam and sharp smoke. People likely gathered there to cook, clean or prepare food because the torn stone and charcoal still mark the violence of that heat. The pits sit close together, preserving the moment when ordinary fire became a roaring engine of transformation.

Archaeological monitoring undertaken in 2006 in advance of development works revealed two ‘fire pits’ 0.8m apart. The larger pit (1.3m E–W; 0.7m N–S; D 0.1m) was oval-shaped with steep sides leading to a flat base. The basal fill was a thin layer of dark brown, compact, sticky clay. Above this was black, sandy clay packed with fragments of burnt and shattered stones mixed with charcoal powder. The second pit (1m E–W; 0.56m N–S; D 0.15m) was also oval-shaped. Along its base was a thin layer of charcoal while the remainder of the pit was filled by cobble-sized, angular stones, some possibly burnt, approximately two layers deep (Giacometti 2006, 8; 2009, 339). The ‘fire pits’ were interpreted as ‘the remains of an area of fulacht fia activity, either forming truncated troughs or associated pits filled with burnt stone and charcoal’ (pers. comm. A. Giacometti 2010). Compiled by: Patrick F. O'Donovan Date of upload: 22 November 2011

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