Fulacht fia, Kilmeedy, Co. Cork

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Settlement Sites

Fulacht fia, Kilmeedy, Co. Cork

On a patch of pasture beside a stream in Kilmeedy, County Cork, a low mound of blackened, fire-cracked stone sits in the grass, barely knee-height and easy to walk past without a second glance.

It is a fulacht fia, a type of prehistoric cooking site found in enormous numbers across Ireland, typically Bronze Age in date, and usually identified by exactly this kind of horseshoe-shaped spread of burnt and shattered rock beside a water source. This one measures roughly ten metres north to south and six and a half metres east to west, rising to just over half a metre at its highest point, with a three-metre opening facing west.

The standard interpretation of these sites is that a trough, dug into the ground nearby and sometimes lined with wood or stone, would be filled with water and heated by dropping fire-cracked stones into it. The burnt, discarded stones accumulated over repeated use into the characteristic mound that survives today. The proximity to the stream at Kilmeedy fits the pattern well; water access was essential, and the great majority of fulachtaí fia in Ireland are found close to streams, springs, or boggy ground. What makes this particular spot quietly notable is that it does not stand alone: a second fulacht fia lies roughly fifty metres to the north, suggesting repeated or concurrent use of this stretch of ground, perhaps over generations.

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Pete F
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