County: Offaly Site name: TUMBEAGH BOG
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 99E0405
Author: Jane Whitaker, ADS Ltd.
Site type: Road - class 3 togher
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 615897m, N 729367m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.314344, -7.761430
This excavation was carried out in Tumbeagh Bog, Co. Offaly, as part of the 1999 Bord na Móna Archaeological Mitigation Project.
The site was initially identified as a small brushwood togher on the surface of a Bord na Móna production field. A small cutting, 1m x 2m, was excavated and revealed the remains of a narrow, linear, brushwood togher. The site was composed of longitudinal brushwood and roundwoods placed side by side to provide a walking surface. This site was 0.33m in maximum width and three to four rods wide. The rods ranged from 20mm to 90mm in diameter, and their upper surfaces had been machine damaged. The substructure appears to have consisted of some irregularly placed brushwood underlying the upper longitudinals. Several of the elements had toolmarks that varied in type from pencil points to wedge and chisel points.
The surrounding field surfaces were investigated to establish the full extent of the site, which was traced for a length of 8m. The site did not appear on the adjoining field surfaces, although it is possible that it was originally longer and had been destroyed by peat production.
Windsor House, 11 Fairview Strand, Dublin 3
