Fulacht fia in Ryleen

Located towards the bottom of a SW-facing slope of Lacken Hill, and on the N bank of a small E-W stream, with a larger S-N stream c. 100m to the W. An irregularly-shaped area of broken and burnt stone in a black matrix (dims 18m E-W; 13m N-S; D 0.3m) was identified in centre-line testing (E4067) for the N25 New Ross by-pass during 2009 and set aside for resolution as Ryleen 3 (Doyle et al. 2010, 40-1). When excavated (E4119) a rectangular trough (dims 3.1m ENE-WSW; 2m NNW-SSE; D 0.4m) with a flat base and a group of five stake-holes in the NE corner was recorded. Just to the W a shallow pit or natural hollow (dims 5.8m WNW-ESE; 1.8m NNE-SSW; D 0.3m) with a collection of urburnt stone was truncated at the W by a pit (dims 1.7m x 1.5m; D 0.55m), and another large pit (dims 3.4m NE-SW; 0.83m NW-SE: max. D 0.4m) was SE of the trough (Clark and Hackett 2010g, 8-10). A second phase of activity that is probably prehistoric is represented by four intercutting pits (dims 0.68m x 0.46m; D 0.27m to 2.7m E-W; 1.92m N-S; D 0.54m) that cut through the burnt stone spread (ibid. 10-11). The pit (WX030-100----) is c. 70m to the NE. (Clark and Hackett 2010, 8-12; Hession and Hackett 2013) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 24 September, 2013