2000:0827 - 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 report describes the one-day excavation, tracing and sampling of a stake row.

This site ran in a south-western direction from a cluster of wooden platforms excavated in the centre of Derrynagun Bog. The stake row was recorded at six sightings (A–F) on the Bord na Móna field surface and could be traced for 90m. The excavation revealed the last surviving remains of the site in the form of displaced stakes and some short lengths of in situ stakes. The in situ stakes were set vertically in the peat at three sightings; the remaining three sightings exposed disturbed material. The in situ stakes averaged 0.25m in length and 25mm in diameter. This disturbed material comprised partially degraded light brushwoods, which probably represent displaced stakes. Some of these brushwoods were worked at one end.

It is difficult to interpret what these remains signify as it is unclear how many more, if any, stakes were associated with the site. The stake row may have been a marker to indicate the location of the wooden platforms, as it appears to run from the area where the platforms are located towards the dryland island at Lemanaghan. Alternatively, the stake row may have marked out land or territory divisions within the bog.

Windsor House, 11 Fairview Strand, Fairview, Dublin 3