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From Castlebar - County Mayo - Mayo Historical and Archaeological Society On the left of the road leaving Castlebar for Ballinrobe there are at least two fulacht fiadh or cooking sites within sixty yards. Also known as burnt mounds, these monuments appear as grass covered horseshoe shaped mounds on the surface. In ancient times cooking was carried out at these sites; a trough in the middle of the mound contained water and it was there that the meat was cooked in water brought to the boil by dropping in hot stones to raise the temperature. Initially, when the hot stones were submerged in the cold water they shattered; after the cooking was finished, the broken fragments were removed from the trough and thrown around the perimeter forming the grass covered horseshoe-shaped mounds we see today. The sites are usually found in marshy places or along streams where the water-table is near to the surface. Nearly two hundred of these sites were found in the Turlough-Parke area and the finder, Christy Lawless, successfully carried out experimental cooking demonstrations there. He wrapped meat in straw and suspended it in the boiling water until it was cooked; those of us who sampled the meat agreed it was delicious. Further reading ; Cathair Na Mart. Vol. 10. No.1. 1990
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