Fulacht fia, Annagh More, Co. Kerry

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Settlement Sites

Fulacht fia, Annagh More, Co. Kerry

On a west-facing slope in the rough hill pasture of Annagh More, a grass-covered oval mound rises quietly out of the bog, its origins far older than its unassuming appearance suggests.

Measuring nine metres east to west and six metres north to south, and standing just over a metre high, it is composed of burnt material, the characteristic residue of a fulacht fia. A stream runs close to its south-eastern edge, which is precisely where you would expect it.

A fulacht fia is a type of prehistoric cooking site found in great numbers across Ireland, particularly in low-lying or boggy ground near water. The typical method involved heating stones in a fire and dropping them into a water-filled trough until the water boiled, then using that heat to cook meat. The mound itself is the accumulated debris of those shattered, fire-cracked stones, discarded after each use over what may have been centuries of repeated activity. The form is ancient, with most examples dated to the Bronze Age, roughly 1500 to 500 BC, though the type appears earlier and later than that range. What makes this example at Annagh More quietly notable is its setting and its company. The mound protrudes above the surface of the surrounding bog on a slope overlooking the valley of the Flesk River, and a second fulacht fia lies approximately ten metres to the south-west. The pairing of two such sites in close proximity is not unique in Ireland, but it does raise questions about how intensively this particular hillside was used, and by whom, and for how long.

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Pete F
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