2008:1039 - Cloonshannagh Bog, Northyard/ Cordrumman/Caul/Cloonshannagh/Cullbeg/Corraun/Cloonmore/Dooslattagh/ Newtown and Derrymoylan Bog, Ballymagrine/Cloonaufi, Roscommon

The survey of Cloonshannagh and Derrymoylan bogs was undertaken between 23 July and 14 August 2008. Cloonshannagh Bog has been under intermittent production since 1985. It is located 3km north-west of Termonbarry, 2.5km west of Lough Forbes, and covers an area of 817ha. The Bord na Móna drains are orientated north-north-east/south-south-west. A spur of dry land extends into the southern side of Cloonshannagh Bog and an ecclesiastical enclosure, church (RO030–004001 and 2), holy well, bullaun stone and penitential station (RO030–005001, 2 and 3) attest to the location’s importance. Derrymoylan Bog is located 2km south-west of Roosky, 2km west of the River Shannon and 6km north-north-west of Termonbarry. Industrial peat development and milled peat production began at Derrymoylan in 1987. It covers an area of 343ha and the drains are orientated north-north-west/south-south-east. There are no known monuments in the immediate vicinity of Derrymoylan Bog.
Eighty-eight sites were recorded in Cloonshannagh Bog. This included eleven trackways, 54 platforms, one possible trackway, three possible platforms and nineteen sightings of archaeological wood. Four sites were located on the eastern side of the bog, one at the northern end, eleven just south of the centre and the remainder concentrated in a narrowing just north of the centre. A wooden vessel was found near (0.6m) one of the platforms but appears to have been deposited after that site was engulfed by bog. The vessel was lifted by National Museum conservators Karina Morton and Carol Smith. The largest trackway was sighted 33 times and ran for c. 570m. It consisted of up to four alternately orientated layers of tightly packed round and brushwoods, 6m wide and up to 1m deep. It was occasionally secured by pegs and deposits of sand were recorded within many of the sightings. The tightly packed transverse elements would have provided a stable surface that would have been capable of supporting wheeled transport and interestingly, the point where this trackway meets the contemporary dry land/peatland interface is probably still preserved beneath bog cover. Elements of all sightings have been sampled and a selection is being forwarded for dating.
Nothing of archaeological significance was found during field-walking survey of Derrymoylan Bog.