County: Longford Site name: DERRYAD, Cloonfore
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 00E0517
Author: Noel Dunne, ADS Ltd.
Site type: Road - class 1 togher
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 605006m, N 768347m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.664857, -7.924254
This very substantial togher can be traced for 173m, extending in an east-north-east/west-south-west direction across eleven milled fields. Site No. 619, Excavations 2000, is located close to its east-north-east end and is evident as a number of patches of tightly packed, light brushwood and twigs, which may be the remains of a platform that was located out on the bog. The present site could not be picked up on the opposite side of No. 619, and its function, therefore, may have been to provide access to the platform.
Two cuttings were excavated, both of which measured 5m x 2m. One was positioned in the headland field at the visible west-south-west end of the togher, and the other was located on the fifth milled field to the east.
The western cutting uncovered a very well-preserved togher with an upper walking surface that consisted of longitudinal light brushwood and twigs. These elements were long, straight coppiced rods, which formed a very dense band with a convex upper surface in cross-section. The width of this band was generally 0.75–0.8m. These elements were underlain and bordered by heavier brushwood that mostly ranged in diameter from 20mm to 45mm. The heavier brushwood extended either longitudinally or slightly across the line of the site and was further underlain by additional longitudinal light brushwood and twigs. The dense core of the site was 0.1–0.14m thick, and the overall thickness was up to 0.22m. A number of light brushwood pegs or pins, with snapped or split ends, helped to hold the longitudinal elements in position.
The togher dipped quite dramatically to the west-south-west in the eastern cutting. Here, the upper walking surface was generally 0.75–0.85m wide and was also constructed with longitudinal light brushwood and twigs. At the west-south-west end, in particular, these elements consisted of further long, straight coppiced rods. The upper surface was supported by heavier transverse brushwood that was arranged either at right angles to or diagonal to the line of the site. These transverse elements mainly ranged in diameter from 20mm to 45mm and were underlain by further longitudinal light brushwood and twigs. The overall thickness of the site was up to 0.17m. The longitudinal and transverse elements were held in place by pegs, 12.5–25mm in diameter, and by heavier posts, 27.5–40mm 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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