County: Offaly Site name: KILBALLYSKEA BOG, KILBALLYSKEA/MAGHERAREAGH
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 04E1363
Author: Michael Stanley, Irish Archaeological Wetland Unit, Department of Archaeology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4.
Site type: Peatland survey
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 606413m, N 693147m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.989026, -7.904482
Kilballyskea Bog was surveyed on behalf of the National Parks and Wildlife Service in order to record and evaluate its archaeological potential prior to its sale. It is a raised bog lying in an isolated basin situated 1km east of the village of Shinrone in southwest Co. Offaly. While there are no known archaeological sites in the bog, a small number of finds (a bog body, a leather shoe and, possibly, a late medieval dress) have been recovered that testify to its archaeological potential. The principal survey area was contained within Kilballyskea townland but extended slightly into Magherareagh townland at its northern extent. An extensive area of cutaway bog surrounds the survey area (66.33ha in extent), which consists of high bog cut by a series of northeast/south-west-orientated drains. Kilballyskea Bog has not been subject to active peat extraction for more than ten years and the vegetation on the bog margins and surface has regenerated since that time. This regeneration has effectively rendered the field surfaces unavailable for survey, and as the drains have not been recut they have also become overgrown and obscured by peat sludge and lichens. Nevertheless, the drain faces were available for visual inspection, although the quality of the visible sections did vary.
No archaeological sites or artefacts were identified during the survey, but this result should not be taken as a definitive statement as to the archaeological potential of the bog. The conditions under which the survey was undertaken were not conducive to the identification of archaeological remains and, as such, the survey results represent a provisional archaeological inventory of Kilballyskea Bog. The necessity for re-surveying bogs at regular intervals has long been realised and has become a staple of best practice when conducting peatland surveys. It has therefore been recommended that Kilballyskea Bog be scheduled for re-survey at regular intervals should it be subject to large-scale peat extraction in the future.
