Fulacht fia, Drombohilly, Co. Kerry

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Settlement Sites

Fulacht fia, Drombohilly, Co. Kerry

On a north-facing slope above Kenmare Bay, a low mound of burnt stone sits half-swallowed by rough hill pasture.

Oval in shape, measuring roughly six metres by four and a half, and rising just over half a metre from the ground, it is easy to overlook entirely. A stream has been quietly eroding its western edge, and two small boulders press against its northern side. Nothing marks it out to a passing eye as anything other than a slight irregularity in the land.

The mound is a fulacht fia, a type of prehistoric cooking site found in considerable numbers across Ireland, particularly in low-lying or waterside ground. The typical arrangement involved a trough filled with water, into which stones were heated in a nearby fire and then dropped to bring the water to a boil. Over time, the repeatedly fractured and discarded stones accumulated into a characteristic horseshoe-shaped or oval mound of dark, fire-cracked material, which is exactly what survives here at Drombohilly. These sites date broadly to the Bronze Age, though the tradition may have persisted longer in some areas. What makes this particular example quietly notable is that it does not stand alone: a second fulacht fia lies approximately 150 metres to the north, suggesting that this stretch of hillside above the bay saw repeated or perhaps concurrent use across some span of prehistoric time. Whether the two sites were used simultaneously or represent separate episodes of activity separated by generations is not something the mound itself can answer.

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Pete F
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