Fulacht fia in Ballymaclode

Situated on a low cliff on the E bank of a short SW-NE stream at the point where it enters the King's Channel of the River Suir. It is beside a natural spring at the base of a steep W-facing slope. It was first identified in monitoring (Excavation Licence 05E0517) for the Waterford main drainage scheme in September 2006 by J. Moran (2009) when a Late Bronze Age gold bracelet was recovered. The monument was subsequently fully excavated within the wayleave (Excavation Licence 06E0990) by D. Pollock when two fragments from a flat band of gold with a recurved terminal were found (Pollock 2009c). The site had been and truncated by a pond but appeared as a mound (dims. c. 12m N-S; c. 3-6m E-W; max. T c. 0.8m). It developed around a slight hollow when two oval pits (dims. 1.8m x 1.5m; D 0.7m: 1m x 0.5m; D 0.15m), both filled with shattered sandstone, were dug. They were followed by a third pit (diam. c. 2m; D 0.7m) and the burnt mound material was layered with upcast, including from a rectangular trough (dims. 2m E-W; c. 1.3m N-S; D 0.4m) dug over the larger of the earlier pits. The straight sides of the trough suggest it was wood-lined, and both the trough and the third pit were filled with burnt mound material. The mound produced two C14 dates - 1370-1340 Cal. BC and 1280-900 Cal. BC. A stone axe and 36 lithics were recovered, mostly from ploughsoil, but they suggest earlier activity in the vicinity. (Pollock 2009f) Moran, J. (2009) Waterford main drainage scheme, counties Kilkenny/Waterford. Various. in I. Bennett (Ed.) Excavations 2006: summary accounts of excavations in Ireland, 531-2, No. 2000. Wordwell. Dublin. Pollock, D. (2009c) Ballymaclode. Burnt mound material. in I. Bennett (Ed.) Excavations 2006: summary accounts of excavations in Ireland, 525, No. 1968. Wordwell. Dublin. Pollock, D. (2009f) Final excavation report on a burnt mound site at Ballymaclode, County Waterford. Unpublished report. Judith Carroll and Company. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 17 June 2011