What is recorded here

Bundoran is the edge of a busy world, but beneath the proposed housing sits a quiet chamber where human fire and clay still wait for recognition. A large kiln, two flues, a collared urn and cremated remains emerged beside possible furrows, suggesting the field has long served life, death and memory. The urn was lifted whole in a soil block, preserving the shape of a choice made centuries before cars, phones or even written records reached that borderland.

Excavation licence number 01E0683. Testing, monitoring and excavation took place in advance of a twenty-house development at Magheracar, Bundoran, on the Leitrim/Donegal border. The proposed development site lies within an archaeological complex that includes a passage tomb, a wedge tomb and two standing stones. All of these monuments will be protected by the requisite buffer zones and will not be affected by the proposed development. Geophysical surveying had revealed a number of anomalies that may indicate subsurface archaeological features. These were investigated through the manual excavation of four 20m by 20m areas. Two of these cuttings revealed possible archaeological features in the form of burnt areas and linear cut features. These cuttings were extended to discover the full extent of these features before excavation. At the same time, the remainder of the site was stripped of its topsoil, under supervision. Upon excavation, the cut features in Cutting C were interpreted as possible furrows of unknown date. There were no associated finds. The burnt areas in Cutting D were further exposed and excavated, revealing a large corn-drying kiln with two flues. An isolated collared urn filled with cremated material, completely intact and situated upright, was uncovered and barely missed by the machine. It was removed in a block of soil, relatively in one piece, and is in the process of being excavated in the lab by a conservator. (Excavations Bulletin 2001) Christopher Read, North West Archaeological Services, Cloonfad Cottage, Cloonfad, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim.

Bronze Age urn burial; dates to approximately 1000–700 BCE. The burial is significant as it provides insight into funerary practices and social structure in early Irish communities.

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