What is recorded here

Not indicated is an iron-smelting pit-furnace in the south half of a Mayo rath, buried beneath soil that once belonged to someone else. It was dug out in 1992-3 before the N5 Swinford by-pass cut through the land, yielding furnace bottoms and unforged iron. The name is empty, but the function is plain: heat, pressure, transformation. A road needed space, so the furnace gave up its shape. What it made may have become a knife, a chain, a cart wheel or a forgotten tool. The iron no longer points to one purpose. It belongs to every possible use.

Located in the S half of a rath (MA071-042----). An iron-smelting pit-furnace was discovered and fully excavated in 1992-3 during excavation (92E0152) of the rath in advance of the construction of the N5 Swinford by-pass. Associated finds included furnace bottoms and smelted, unforged, iron. (Walsh 1995, 7-8). Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 13 July 2021

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