2000:0823 - DERRYNAGUN BOG, Lemanaghan, Offaly

Excavations were carried out in Derrynagun Bog, Co. Offaly, as part of the Bord na Móna Archaeological Mitigation Project. These excavations were undertaken to resolve known archaeological sites so that Bord na Móna could resume peat production in areas that had been cleared of archaeology. Derrynagun Bog is to the north-east of Lemanaghan dryland island, where the site of the monastic establishment of St Manchan of Liath is reputed to have been founded in the middle of the 7th century. This licence covers the one-week excavation of a brushwood platform. It was located next to Nos 822 and 825 above/below and was one of a series of small brushwood and roundwood platforms excavated alongside a Bord na Móna drain edge (see Nos 819–22 and 824–6 for the other sites).

The site, which was excavated in its entirety, was 3.5m long, 1.5m wide and 0.42m deep. Excavation revealed a three-layered arrangement of brushwoods, which were tightly compacted together. The upper two layers of wood comprised approximately 220 densely compacted brushwoods, twigs and leaves. The main body of the site was constructed of a number of longitudinally placed brushwoods with some transverses woven through them. These transverses may have been laid in this way to create stability for the site. The third layer of wood, which acted as a foundation to the site, consisted of haphazardly lain brushwood. The brushwood associated with this layer averaged 15mm in diameter. There were also some twigs associated with this layer of wood. All of the brushwood had bark remaining, and some of the wood was branched and gnarly. This site may represent a small platform structure used as a hideout for hunting or wild-fowling and may be contemporary with the other sites located in the vicinity.

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