Fulacht fia, Tooreenduff, Co. Cork
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Settlement Sites
In a pasture field in Tooreenduff, a low mound of burnt material sits partially levelled into the ground, its origins stretching back to prehistoric Ireland.
This is a fulacht fia, a type of site found in considerable numbers across the Irish landscape, particularly in low-lying or damp ground. The term refers to a mound of fire-cracked stones and charcoal, the accumulated debris of repeated heating and cooking or possibly bathing and craft activities. Most fulachta fiadh date to the Bronze Age, roughly 1500 to 500 BC, though some span a broader range. What makes such sites quietly remarkable is less their appearance, which is unassuming at best, and more what that dark, scorched earth represents: sustained, organised activity across generations in the same spot.
This particular mound measures approximately 18 metres east to west and around 10 metres north to south, making it a reasonably substantial example. A drain cutting across the northern end has exposed a small spread of reddened soil, roughly 70 centimetres across, which may be the remnant of a hearth. Animal bones have been observed on the surface of the mound. The site was likely recorded as early as 1934, when Bowman noted a fulacht fiadh on land belonging to a T. Collins in the area, placing this feature in a documented tradition of local archaeological awareness that predates modern survey work by several decades.