County: Longford Site name: DERRYAD, Cloonfore
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 00E0516
Author: Noel Dunne, ADS Ltd.
Site type: Road - class 3 togher
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 605020m, N 768299m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.664426, -7.924043
This very substantial togher extends east-north-east/west-south-west across 28 milled fields for a distance of 420m. Three cuttings were excavated, two of which measured 10m x 3m, at the visible western and eastern ends of the site. The third cutting measured 5m x 3m, at sighting 1R of the 1999 reassessment. The western cutting was in the headland field on that side of the bog. Here, the togher lay undisturbed by the Bord na Móna milling operations, and the maximum depth of peat over the site was 1.5m.
Four thin, longitudinal oak planks that originally formed the upper walking surface of the togher extended along the length of the cutting. Three were radially split timbers with wedge-shaped cross-sections of maximum dimensions 0.31m x 0.12m. The fourth plank consisted of an outer tangential split, with the bark still adhering to its rounded undersurface. It had an original length of c. 3.9m, and its maximum cross-section was 0.43m x 0.12m. The planks were supported by a series of substantial transverse branches or light tree trunks, which were orientated either north-north-west/south-south-east or north–south. These were up to 2.85m long and 0.2m in diameter. Many displayed worked tips, including wedge-, chisel- and pencil-point varieties, while others had snapped or broken ends. The planks and transverses were held in place by a number of posts or pegs, two of which were very substantial, with diameters of 90mm and 85mm. One of the tips had been formed by burning, while many of the others displayed wedge-point ends. Similar retaining pegs were uncovered in the other two cuttings, including another example with a burnt tip.
In the other two cuttings, the togher was located at, or close to, the present surface and was in a very degraded state owing to the milling operations. The cutting at location 1R revealed a radially split, thin, longitudinal oak plank that was up to 3.45m long, 0.46m wide and 25–80mm thick. Another radially split oak and a natural yew branch formed transverse supports at either end. These were 1.7m and 2.38m long, respectively. Two shorter, crossed transverses supported the plank in the middle.
In the eastern cutting, owing to the cambered profile of the field, the site was largely milled out at either end, and only the bottoms of retaining pegs were located in those areas. The centre of the cutting revealed a thin, longitudinal oak plank that was formed by a tangential split. It was 4.35m long, 0.47m wide and up to 0.06m thick. Three transverse branches supported the plank at either end and in the middle. These were up to 2.75m long and 0.09m in diameter.
Reference:
Whitaker, J. and Dunne, N. 2019. Final Excavation Report for Derryad Bog (Licences: 00E0516-00E0522), Irish Archaeological Consultancy, Ltd., 2019. Unpublished report prepared by IAC Archaeology.
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