1999:738 - CASTLETOWN BOG, Castlearmstrong, Offaly

This site was a 5m-by-5m cutting placed within a zone of brushwood structures. The area previously could not be defined into individual, separate structures. The excavation revealed four wooden structures.

Site A was a small puddle togher, which was excavated in its entirety. It was constructed of layers of small brushwood and twigs to make a compact structure. The peat related to this site is indicative of a very wet environment. This togher was constructed to cover a very wet area of peatland to facilitate safe crossing. No pegs were associated with this togher, which suggests that the structure may not have been intended to be permanent.

Site B was a compactly constructed trackway composed of twigs, brushwood and pegs four layers deep. Bord na Móna milling had destroyed some of the upper elements of this site. The trackway was 0.16m deep and 32m long, and its maximum width was 0.9m. The site curved around an orange sphagnum area of Sphagnum cuspidatum peat, which probably represents a pool or area of open water at the time of its construction.

Site C was the milled remains of a brushwood togher constructed of two layers. The superstructure, which was the actual walking surface of the togher, was constructed using long, straight brushwood. The substructural layer was composed of lighter brushwood and some small twigs. The site was very disturbed in the central portion. Track C was traced for 1m to the north of the cutting and then petered out. This site was visible in the section of the drain face to the south of the cutting but could only be traced for another 1m after this. The total length of this togher was 8m.

Site D represented the remains of a sparsely constructed togher. This togher was only present at the north-western and south-eastern end, as milling had destroyed the middle portion. The track was 0.8m wide and 90mm deep. The superstructure was constructed of approximately ten longitudinally placed brushwood rods. The brushwood measured 15–40mm in diameter, and they were spaced c. 50mm apart.

A substructural layer was excavated underneath at the south-eastern end of the cutting. It was composed of six pieces of brushwood averaging 30mm in diameter. There was a bed of twigs also associated with the wood. This twig bed was 0.2m in diameter and was not as compact as the twig beds associated with Site B. There were two pegs associated with the togher, which were found at the south end of the cutting. Bark was present on 60% of the wood and twigs. Two toolmarked brushwoods were recorded from this layer. This track was visible on the field surface to the north of the cutting for c. 1.5m. It was also visible in the drain section to the south and was traced from there for another 1.2m. The total length of this togher was 8.5m.

All of the tracks described above were found very close together and appear to be running in the same general direction. They could only be traced for a maximum distance of 32m, and it is possible that they were laid down across a short stretch of particularly wet bog that could not otherwise have been crossed.

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