County: Offaly Site name: CLONAD (OF-CLO0027)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 04E0729
Author: Eoin Corcoran, Archaeological Development Services Ltd.
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 647184m, N 724117m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.265303, -7.292716
This site was recorded by the IAWU in 2001 as an archaeological complex present at seven sightings across two drains and three field surfaces (IAWU 2002). The site was examined in five cuttings, three measuring 2m by 2m, one 3m by 2m and one 5m by 2m. Although six cuttings were originally laid out, Cutting 1 was not excavated, as the site there is under no immediate threat given its depth below the field surface.
Given the nature of the remains found on excavation, this site is difficult to interpret. There was a lot of natural wood present in this area, which confuses the evidence. This site is very close to the dry land to the east, which may explain the preponderance of natural wood. The remains in Cuttings 2 and 3 appeared to be mostly natural, but they did contain elements of structure. These two cuttings looked to have the remains of trackways or platforms within them, but with the limited nature of the excavation due to the presence of a stockpile and the amount of root material present it is difficult to say for certain what the remains represent. The remains in Cutting 4 at first looked like part of a platform but with increased depth looked like part of a trackway orientated to the north-east that may relate to the unexcavated remains in Cutting 1. Cuttings 5 and 6 appear, due to their proximity and the orientation of the elements, to be part of the same structure. The orientation of elements in these two cuttings would be consistent with them being part of a north-west/south-east-orientated trackway, but they could just as easily represent the edge of a platform. The lack of any sightings to the north-west may support the platform theory. Dating samples from all these cuttings should help to relate these remains to each other or to determine their lack of relationship.
In short, it is hard to draw conclusions about this site without investigating it further, due to the stockpile. It may be a series of trackways that meet at this point or it may be a complex of related structures. Should Bord na Móna decide to remove the stockpile of peat, further investigations may reveal more.
References
IAWU 2002 Archaeological Survey Report: Clonad Bog, Co. Offaly. Unpublished report commissioned by Dúchas, the Heritage Service.
Whitaker, J. and Corcoran, E. 2020. Final Excavation Report for Clonad Bog, Co. Offaly (Licences: 04E0722–04E0729), Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd., 2019. Unpublished report prepared by IAC Archaeology.
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