2001:814 - BEGNAGH BOG, Corragarrow and Cloonmore, Longford

These sites were excavated as part of the Bord na Móna (BnM) Mitigation Project. A longitudinal roundwood togher and two small brushwood/ platform sites were excavated. This site was first recorded as a brushwood and roundwood togher in 1999 during the reassessment survey. It was traced for a length of 100m. Four cuttings were excavated along the 100m length.

Excavation revealed that the site was a linear togher traceable for a distance of 60m, after which it turned into a series of small brushwood sites/platforms. The linear togher, which had been milled along most of its length, was composed of tightly packed longitudinal roundwoods and was 3m in width. The platforms were composed of tightly packed longitudinally placed brushwood and roundwood. One of the platforms was located on the field surface and measured 3.04m in length and 2.1m in width, while the other was located under 0.2m of peat and measured 2.85m in width and 2m in length.

Cutting 1 was located beside a drain as the site could be seen protruding from the drain face. This cutting, which was on a high BnM field at the edge of the bog, measured 3m by 5m. Over 0.5m of peat was removed from above the site to reveal the togher. As a result the wood associated with the togher was in good condition and the original composition and size of the togher was well preserved under the peat layers. This was the only stretch along the 60m length of the togher where it was fully preserved without milling damage. The peat removed was poorly decomposed. The togher measured 2.6m in width and 0.7m in depth. It was composed of an upper layer of c. fifteen substantial longitudinal roundwood timbers running in an east–west direction. There were several smaller roundwoods and brushwood visible between and running underneath the more substantial roundwoods. The wood was densely packed. Preliminary wood identifications indicate that some of the roundwoods were of ash and oak. The wood contained no bark but there was bark excavated from between the wood. There were no pegs associated with the togher at this level.

A lower layer of wood exposed in this cutting was composed of longitudinal roundwoods (50%) and heavy brushwood (50%). The wood was densely packed and was in good condition. Unlike the superstructure, some of the elements had bark present on them.

The peat underneath the togher was a dark grey-brown poorly humified Sphagnum peat containing frequent Eriophorum and Calluna remains.

Ends worked to chisel and wedge points were recorded. The facets were cut with a metal tool with cutting angles averaging 40°. The togher was traced further eastwards towards the dryland by excavating several small test-trenches. It was traced for over 6m and continued to the point where the dryland starts. The togher was 1m below the peat at this point.

The second cutting, measuring 10m by 5m, was located in the BnM field to the west of Cutting 1. This milled peat field was at a much lower level and consequently the site was badly disturbed here. The cutting exposed broken and disturbed longitudinal roundwoods (85%) and brushwood (10%) and some stone (5%). The wood was very spread out in this cutting but this was due to the extensive disturbance by milling. The wood resembled the substructure of the togher excavated in Cutting 1. The original width of the togher at this cutting was 3m. The site was located in moderately humified Sphagnum spp peat which contained a large amount of ericaceous root. The togher was traced for a further 30m by milled remains on the field surface to the west. It then stopped abruptly and does not continue out past the centre of the bog. It was clear that it stopped and was not just destroyed as many of the BnM fields located further to the west were at a higher level, and if the site had ever existed further into the bog it would have been preserved. A series of platforms were excavated around where the togher ends at Cuttings 3 and 4. These were originally thought to have been part of the longitudinal togher but it was clear after excavations that they were separate platform sites.

Cutting 3, investigating the end of the longitudinal togher identified in the reassessment survey in 1999, was located 70m to the west of Cutting 2. The cutting, which measured 5m by 5m, 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 western side remaining. This platform-type structure was composed of a superstructure of six longitudinally placed roundwoods and one peg. A transverse timber lay at the western end of the site, possibly to delineate the site’s end and to prevent movement of the structure to the west. There were also some small split pieces of wood scattered close to the roundwoods. The elements were in good condition and had not been affected by milling. Two of the roundwoods were half-split timbers. After the longitudinal roundwoods were lifted, a substructure composed of six roundwoods, one brushwood, a peg and five radially split roundwoods was exposed underneath. This substructure was spread out over a larger area measuring 2.1m and the wood was not as densely compacted as the upper layer. The site measured 2.1m in width and 0.5m in depth. Its true length could not be determined as it was cut by the drain on the eastern side, but it could not have measured more than 4m since it was not noted in the opposite drain face, which was at a higher level. The western end of the site ended in the excavated cutting. The ends of some of the roundwoods were worked to pencil- and wedge-shaped points. They displayed many facets which had been cut with a metal tool at cutting angles averaging 40°.

The fourth cutting, which was originally identified as the middle of the longitudinal togher in the reassessment survey in 1999, was 30m to the west of Cutting 2. The cutting, which measured 5m by 5m, was located beside a drain edge. The site could be seen protruding from the drain section face. The site had been cut by the drain, leaving only its eastern side remaining. Over 0.2m of peat was desodded to reveal a brushwood platform structure in the western half of the cutting. The site, which measured 2.85m by 2m, was composed of a dense concentration of roundwoods and brushwood, two to three layers deep in places. The elements were, for the most part, placed longitudinally, with five transverse pieces of brushwood delineating the eastern end of the site. Roundwoods comprised over 30% of the context while the brushwood represented the remaining 70%. The site lay in moderately humified Sphagnum peat. Substantial layers of Eriophorum (bog cotton) were excavated from underneath the platform site. The wood, which was still covered in bark, was very soft and broke up easily when sampled. Four pegs were dotted throughout the cutting. These presumably added stability to the site. A substantial amount of the brushwood was worked and torn to chisel-pointed ends. The ends were cut at a 45° angle.

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