County: Offaly Site name: CASTLETOWN BOG, Castlearmstrong
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 99E0290
Author: Ellen O'Carroll, ADS Ltd.
Site type: Road - class 2 togher
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 617169m, N 728838m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.309551, -7.742375
This site was a brushwood togher on the surface of a Bord na Móna production field. Excavation revealed the remains of a linear brushwood togher, two layers deep, secured into the peat with pegs. The togher was 0.95m wide and 0.13m deep. The first layer comprised both longitudinal and irregularly placed brushwood, five to seven rods wide and three rods deep. The togher was best preserved at its eastern end and quite disturbed at its western end from a combination of exposure to the elements and Bord na Móna milling. The brushwood rods ranged in diameter from 20mm to 50mm. There were several pegs noted around the edge of this togher, and some twig infill was recorded between the brushwood. The pegs were set into the peat at angles of 35–50º.
A second layer of wood was excavated underneath the upper brushwood, which consisted of an abundance of twigs, several pegs and some irregularly placed brushwood. These pegs averaged 20mm in diameter. Bark was present on over half the wood excavated. The site was traced along the Bord na Móna field surface for 20m.
Windsor House, 11 Fairview Strand, Fairview, Dublin 3
