Fulacht fiadh

Most surviving examples consist of a low horseshoe-shaped mound[1] of charcoal-enriched soil, and heat-shattered stone, with a cooking pit located in a slight depression at its centre.

[6] Fulachtaí fiadh are usually found close to water sources, such as springs, rivers and streams, or waterlogged ground.

The site may contain the remains of structures such as stone enclosures or even small buildings, and sometimes multiple hearths and additional, smaller pits.

Some researchers believe the fulachtaí fiadh were multi-purpose and could have, at least in some cases, been used for all of these activities - cooking, bathing, dyeing, or anything involving hot water.

Some fulacht fiadh reconstructions, such as the one at Ballyvourney, include circular, hut-type structures based on the post holes found at the sites; some believe these small buildings were used for the storing and preparation of foodstuffs.

[7] In August 2007, two Galway based archaeologists suggested that fulachtaí fiadh were used primarily for the brewing of beer, and experimented by filling a large wooden trough with water and adding heated stones.

[8][9] This method of brewing with hot stones is widely documented across Europe in the modern period, and survives as a living tradition in Finland, Latvia, and Russia.