2006:2077 - Toar Bog, Pallasboy, Westmeath

This site was one of twenty excavated in Toar Bog, Co. Westmeath, as part of the 2006 Bord na Móna archaeological mitigation programme. Five sites had previously been excavated by the author in 2005 (see No. 2042 above). This site was identified in 2000 as two separate sites a ‘worked wood in situ’ (WM-PBY226) and a tertiary togher (WM-PBY227). The sites were adjacent to each other along the drain edge and both were visible in opposing drain faces. It was suspected that they might form part of the same site, so a single cutting measuring 3m by 3m was excavated along the drain edge.
Excavation revealed a single brushwood and roundwood togher oriented north–south. While some surface damaged had occurred, it appeared that the site was composed of transversely laid heavy brushwood and roundwood overlying several layers of randomly laid lighter brushwood. The site was 1.2m in width and several slot-trenches were excavated to the north and south of the cutting, which extended its known length to a minimum of 15m. It was not possible to trace the site further as the adjoining fields were at a considerably lower level.