Fulacht fia in Sonnagh

Located on the E edge of an E–W peat basin, bordered to N and S by drier higher ground. An E–W field drain lay 3m to S. This fulacht fia (designated Sonnagh IX) was discovered and fully excavated in advance of the construction of the N5 Charlestown bypass (Ministerial direction no. A020/076; Registration no. E23358) (Gillespie and Kerrigan 2010, 92-94). The crescent-shaped mound (11m E–W; 9.5m N–S; max. H 0.5m), which was enveloped in peat, was composed of heat-fractured sandstone in a matrix of charcoal and peat. A depression on the SE side of the mound enclosed an oval trough (1.8m N–S; 1.1m E–W; D 0.4m) with vertical sides and a flat base. The trough was cut through the peat into the underlying marl to access the local water table. Two split alder timbers lay in the base, and two hazel stakes and a willow stake were driven into the marl at the N, S and NW ends of the trough. The fill included a dense layer of moss and fragmented hazel wicker rods interpreted as the possible remains of a wicker lining used to filter the water. The jaw bones of a domestic pig were also recovered from the fill. Eight pieces of wood, including a split pine log, lay immediately to N and S of the trough. A coarse grey chert blade was recovered from the mound. A sample of alder charcoal from the basal fill of the trough was dated to 3645 ± 40BP; 2134-1919 Cal. BC (GrN-30759), placing it in the Early Bronze Age. (Gillespie and Kerrigan 2010, 92-94) Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 26 January 2021