2001:812 - BEGNAGH BOG, Corragarrow and Cloonmore, Longford

These sites were excavated as part of the 2001 Bord na Móna Mitigation Project. Two small wooden platforms in the centre of Begnagh Bog were excavated. The cutting location and size were determined in the mitigation strategy document prepared by Dúchas and the National Museum of Ireland. These cuttings were expanded and moved as necessary. The sites lay in moderately humified black/brown Sphagnum spp peat with some patches of Eriophorum located directly beside the wood.

The first cutting was located beside a drain as the site (99BG0015a) could be seen protruding from the drain face. The site, which had been cut by the drain, leaving only its western side remaining, was exposed on the field surface at the drain edge and then dipped by 0.2m at the western end of the cutting. The platform was composed of two distinct layers. The upper layer consisted of approximately fourteen longitudinally placed roundwoods, in between which were placed brushwood and twigs. There were no transverse timbers noted in the upper layer, which would have represented the surface of the platform. Four pegs were also noted during excavation. The maximum diameter of the longitudinal brushwood was 0.06m and the minimum was 0.03m. The site measured 2.8m in width and was 0.2m in depth. The platform was traced to the west for a distance of 4.8m. Its original length could not be determined as the site was cut by the drain on the eastern side, but it could not have measured more than 5.8m since it was not noted in the opposite drain face. The substructure of the platform was very insubstantial and consisted of three transverses, with six pegs and two roundwoods delineating the edge of the site. There were some extraneous longitudinals concentrated at the northern end of the cutting. The peat underneath the platform was a grey/green muddy pasty layer containing visible plant remains. Overall the wood was in good condition, with bark remaining on the majority of the timbers. The worked ends were recorded and most of them were worked to chisel points. The facets were cut with a metal axe with cutting angles averaging 40°.

The second cutting was located approximately 25m to the east. The platform structure exposed in this cutting (99BG0016a) was 0.07–0.3m below the field surface. The cutting was located beside a drain, as the site could be seen protruding from the drain face. The site had been cut by the drain, leaving only its eastern side remaining. The platform was composed of longitudinally placed brushwood, two to three layers deep in places, which ran the maximum length of the site. The elements were in good condition and had not been affected by milling. The brushwood comprised very straight rods, which possibly indicates selection from a nearby coppice woodland. There were three large pieces of brushwood at a slightly higher level than the rest. These were at either end and in the centre of the structure. The remaining brushwood was densely arranged in a longitudinal fashion.

The site measured 0.55m in width and 0.21m in depth. Its true length could not be determined as it was cut by the drain on the western side, but it could not have measured more than 2.8m since it was not noted in the opposite drain face. The certainty that the eastern side of the platform ends in this cutting comes from the fact that the vast majority of the ends of the longitudinal brushwood were worked. The worked ends were recorded and most of them were worked to chisel points.

Windsor House, 11 Fairview Strand, Dublin 3