But the burnt spread at Curraghcloonabro in County Cork is the kind of find that quietly reframes a patch of ordinary-looking ground. Covering at least 11.2 metres east to west, with its full north-south extent never fully established, it came to light in 2008 when test-trenches were dug ahead of the construction of a single dwelling. Two trenches, cut at right angles to one another, both hit the same dark, stony material, suggesting a spread of some size lying just beneath the surface.

What makes the location particularly interesting is its company. A fulacht fia sits roughly 38 metres to the north, and another lies about 120 metres to the north-north-west. Fulachtaí fia are among the most common prehistoric monuments in Ireland, typically appearing as horseshoe-shaped mounds of burnt and shattered stone beside a water source. They are generally interpreted as ancient cooking places, though uses ranging from bathing to textile processing have been proposed. A rath, the circular earthen enclosure that served as a farmstead in early medieval Ireland, stands about 60 metres to the north as well. This clustering of monuments across a relatively small area suggests that Curraghcloonabro was a place people returned to over a long stretch of time, long before anyone thought to build a house there in 2008. When the testing was complete, it was recommended that the burnt spread be left undisturbed where it lay, preserved beneath the ground rather than excavated.