County: Offaly Site name: RATHFESTON (OF-RFN0007)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: OF018-016 Licence number: 04E0722
Author: Eoin Corcoran, Archaeological Development Services Ltd.
Site type: Road - class 1 togher
Period/Dating: Bronze Age (2200 BC-801 BC)
ITM: E 646456m, N 723790m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.262429, -7.303673
This site was initially recorded in the RMP as 18:16 (although it is in the Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly as 18:6) and subsequently identified by the IAWU in their 2001 survey as a primary togher orientated north-west to south-east terminating at a gravel knoll in the middle of the bog. They recorded woodworking throughout the site, as represented by split timbers as well as a number of degraded toolmarks and mortises. Following the survey the IAWU obtained dendrochronological dates ranging from 1083±9 BC to 911±9 BC or later for this site (IAWU 2002).
Five cuttings measuring 10m by 4m were excavated along the length of this trackway and it was recorded at twelve other locations. The excavation revealed the remains of a substantial wooden trackway c. 600m in surviving length and on average 3m wide. The construction method and the materials used appear to be quite uniform along its length. The original construction appears to have been transverse planks secured by pegs lying on top of longitudinal runners. The trackway is built in a remarkably straight line and does not appear to respect local topography, as evidenced by the variation in the number of construction layers used and the repairs that were carried out. Environmental analysis of peat cores and samples taken from the cuttings may help to explain the variation in the number of construction layers/phases of repair along the length of the trackway and the presence of a sandy deposit and tree stumps.
Dating samples taken during the excavation will help to confirm the possible period of use of this trackway.
Research into this site is ongoing and post-excavation analysis, dating and environmental evidence may help to form a clearer picture of the function of this site.
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 Unpublished report commissioned by Dúchas, the Heritage Service.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 Unpublished report prepared by IAC Archaeology.
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