2005:1584 - PALLASBOY, TOAR BOG, Westmeath

This was one of five excavations carried out in Toar Bog, Co. Westmeath, as part of the 2005 Bord na Mona archaeological mitigation programme. The site was identified as a secondary togher composed of brushwood, roundwoods and twigs identified at three locations on the field surface and in the drain face running in a north-west/south-east direction (WM-PBY044a-c). Three small trenches were excavated at each of the sightings identified along this site to establish if the line of the site as identified in the 2000 Peatland Survey was accurate. It appeared from the field inspection that the site WM-PBY044c may have been part of another structure and was not part of the same site represented by sightings WM-PBY044a and 44b, which formed another separate structure. The sightings excavated at WM-PBY044a and 44b were similar in composition and were composed of mainly north-west/south-east-oriented brushwood and roundwoods. WM-PBY044c on the other hand was composed of more densely placed lighter elements that were mainly oriented north-east/south-west. The wood species were identified as hazel, birch, ash, alder, oak and willow. Dating samples from each sighting will be sent for analysis and it is planned to investigate the sites’ relationship with other sites in the vicinity during the next season’s work in Toar Bog.