2012:495 - Mountlucas Bog RD14-1, Clonarrow or Riverlyons, Offaly

Excavation took place between 17 and 19 October 2012 of a trackway and three associated post rows, all orientated north-south and identified during monitoring of works associated with the construction of a wind farm at Mountlucas Bog, Co. Offaly. The trackway, which was 25m in length, was composed of a mixture of densely-laid longitudinal oak timbers and birch roundwoods, pegged in place at intervals by split oak pegs. It was probably constructed through wet woodland and there was evidence in one of the cuttings that it had been inundated at some time. A peg was found at a lower level in the former production field to the north of the site, indicating that the trackway had originally continued in this direction.
The three adjacent post rows were all composed of split oak pegs and represented milled-out trackways. The longest row contained 24 posts and could be traced for a total length of 97m. The width of this post row, up to 9m in places, suggested that it may represent more than one trackway. All the features investigated headed in the direction of a distinctive spur of dry land some 300m north of the site, thus taking advantage of the local topography in order to provide the shortest possible north-south crossing of the bog.
Samples for C14 dating were taken from the trackway as well as each of the various post rows. The split oak pegs displayed few clear facets but where these were present they appeared slightly dished, which may indicate that they were made with a bronze axe. The similarity in depth, size, form and species of the posts that were investigated suggests that all of these trackways were broadly contemporary.

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