Fulacht fia in Rathbane South

Identified during archaeological monitoring associated with the N20/N21 Limerick Bypass. Fulacht fia (LI013-171----) located 70m to N. Excavated under licence no. 99E0633 by Catherine McLoughlin (McLoughlin 1999), the results were summarised as following; ‘The site was a roughly circular spread of black soil and heat-shattered stone that measured 7.5m east-west by 8.5m and was c. 0.2m deep. Several pits were found beneath the burnt spread, as well as a trough and fire-pit. The trough was an oval cut into the subsoil and measured 2.6m north-south by 1.9m. The depth of the cut varied but at its maximum was 0.4m, and it was filled by burnt mound debris. The fire-pit was 0.5m to the east of the trough. It measured 1.7m east-west by 1.2m and had a maximum depth of 0.35m. The base of the cut was filled by an extremely charcoal-rich layer with some burnt stone. Twelve stake-holes ran between the trough and the fire-pit, which would have acted as a windbreak. Several other pits were found in the vicinity of the trough and fire-pit, none of which produced any artefacts. All these features were sealed beneath the burnt spread, which was cut by a later gully and several lazy-beds. The gully was linear and orientated east-west. No artefacts were recovered from the fill to suggest a date for its use’ (www.excavations.ie; McLoughlin 2000, 179). Compiled by: Martin Fitzpatrick Date upload: 26 June 2020