Fulacht fia in Cherrywood

Topsoil monitoring in 1998 revealed an irregularly shaped deposit of burnt stone (100% granite, up to 0.25m long) and charcoal on a west-facing slope. The overall dimensions of the spread are 7.1m (N-S) by 3.6m; the depth was up to 0.23m at 33.95m OD. Later disturbance was apparent to the east of the site, and in the west a cobble-filled field drain cuts the site in a north-south direction. A trough lay below the north-eastern corner of the burnt spread. The trough had two phases of use: the original trough and the later recut. The original trough measures 1.8m (SW-NE) by 0.5m and is up to 0.8m deep. It was filled with a deposit of sticky, grey clay, which contained burnt granite, charcoal and other burnt stone fragments. Four surviving post-holes appeared in the corners of the trough. The recut trough measured 2.05m (NE-SW) by 1.35m and was up to 0.6m deep. Post-holes from the original lining were visible along the long sides of the trough, five on each side. There were no datable finds, but the site is probably Bronze Age in date (O Neill 1999, 54-57). Compiled by: Geraldine Stout and Padraig Clancy. Revised upload on: 21 April 2018.