Enclosure in Corbally (scarawalsh By.)

Identified in centre-line testing (E4110) in advance of the M11 Gorey to Enniscorthy road scheme, and set aside for resolution as Corbally 2 & 3 (Hardy et al. 2010, 92-3). It is situated on a slight E-W spur with the ground sloping down to the S. It was partially excavated (E4276) by C. Hardy as the W half of a large subcircular enclosure (dim. c. 60m N-S) defined by a round-bottomed ditch or fosse (Wth c. 2.53m; D c. 1.25m), with an entrance gap (Wth 1m) at NW. Seven ditch fills were composed of silts and backfill, all of which contained some slag, but this was more plentiful around the entrance. Some pottery, a possible loom-weight and a possible hammer or anvil were recovered from the ditch, but there was no evidence of a bank inside or outside this feature. Three small pits were the only features recorded from the interior, and isolated pits were discovered outside the ditch, where the most significant feature was a concentration of iron slag at SW, and a corn-drying kiln c. 4m distant from the fosse at S. This consisted of two pits connected by a flue (L 3m), which sloped up from the fire-pit (diam. 1.5m; D 0.35m) at W to the drying chamber (Wth 1.44m; D 1m) at E (total L 7.66m E-W). The firing chamber was partially lined with stones, and two stones restricted the entrance to the flue. The fulacht fia (WX020-115001-) is c. 30m outside the perimeter of the enclosure at N, and the corn-drying kiln (WX020-116----) is c. 35m outside the perimeter at NW. (Hardy and Rajic 2012; Hardy, 2013) Compiled by:Michael Moore Date of upload: 28 November, 2013