A fulacht fia is a type of prehistoric outdoor cooking site, typically identified by a distinctive horseshoe-shaped mound of fire-cracked stone and charcoal left behind after repeated heating. Water was boiled by dropping stones heated in a fire into a timber-lined trough, and the spent, shattered stones were discarded in a heap around it. These sites are extraordinarily common across Ireland, yet each excavated example adds something to the picture of how Bronze Age communities organised daily life.

When archaeologist Donald Murphy excavated at Richmond in 2000, he uncovered not one but four fulachtaí fiadh in close proximity. The third of the group was particularly well preserved. Its spread of burnt material measured six metres by six point four metres, and a trough measuring roughly one metre by one point six metres was found to the south of the spread. A charcoal sample taken from inside the trough was radiocarbon dated to between 2139 and 1949 BC, placing its use firmly in the Early Bronze Age. Notably, two series of post-holes were also exposed to the east, west, and north of the trough, sealed beneath the burnt material. Post-holes at fulacht fia sites sometimes indicate the presence of a roofed or partially enclosed structure over the working area, though their precise function here is not certain. The clustering of four such features at one location suggests this was a site returned to repeatedly, rather than used on a single occasion.