2010:604 - Inchirourke bog, baunmore, Tipperary

This site was identified during the Peatland Survey 2006 as an oak plank trackway and was visible, on the field surface and in the drain faces, at twelve sightings across the north-western section of Inchirourke Bog. The site was located on the north-western side of the bog and connected the dry land with an island located between Inchirourke and Baunmore Bogs. The trackway was orientated north-east/south-west and was composed of parallel longitudinally laid planks that were, in places, supported by intermittent transverse elements. The site was excavated in three cuttings measuring 5m x 4m and revealed that the trackway was composed of longitudinally laid upper split oak planks laid end to end. Smaller squared oak and roundwood longitudinals were placed along each side of the main planks, which in turn were supported by short lengths of transverse split oak and roundwoods. Substantial oak posts were noted in each cutting securing the longitudinals in place. This construction is similar to a Bronze Age trackway excavated by the author in 2001 in Derrycolumb 5 Bog, Co. Longford, which dated to 1412 bc (Excavations 2001, No. 817, 01E0584).