County: Offaly Site name: BALLYKEAN BOG, KILBEG
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 04E0799
Author: Jane Whitaker, Archaeological Development Services Ltd, Windsor House, 11 Fairview Strand, Dublin 3.
Site type: Togher (secondary)
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 650543m, N 719929m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.227358, -7.243031
Initially recorded as two separate sites during the IAWU 2003 survey of Ballykean Bog, OF-KLG004 and 15 were excavated together because of their linearity and similar composition. Two cuttings were excavated, both measuring 2m by 4m. The cuttings were located at sightings OF-KLG004c and OFKLG0015b.
In Cutting 1 (OF-KLG004c), the overlying peat ranged from 0.06m to 0.35m in depth. The site was composed of mainly longitudinally laid roundwoods and split planks. Eight closely placed longitudinals and four transverses were exposed in the cutting. Two of the transverses overlay two of the longitudinals and ran underneath the remaining elements. The remaining transverses were completely underneath the longitudinals. The site measured 0.7-2.2m in width. There was a lot of root activity amongst the archaeological wood in the western half of the cutting.
Cutting 2 (OF-KLG015b) was located 90m to the west of Cutting 1. The overlying peat ranged from 0.8m to 1m in depth. The site was composed of longitudinally laid roundwoods and half-split planks that were oriented north-east/south-west. The elements were one to two deep and the majority were broken along their length, probably from the weight of the machinery passing overhead. The elements ranged from 49mm to 175mm in diameter. The site appeared to be composed of a single layer in this cutting, with no evidence for transverses. The site ranged in width from 1m to 1.2m.
Because of the similarity between the wood exposed in the two cuttings and the orientation of the site, it appears that the sites originally recorded as OF-KLG004 and OF-KLG015 form the same trackway. The site is oriented north-west/south-east and was composed of mainly longitudinally placed parallel roundwoods and half-split planks. The site was traced for a length of 175m.
