2013:128 - Mountlucas Bog RD23-3-3, Ballynakill, Offaly

This trackway, orientated north–south, was composed of densely-laid longitudinal brushwoods and roundwoods, together with a number of pegs. It was up to 2.2m wide and was traced for a length of 13.6m. The trackway continued beyond the limits of the site to the south and had been truncated by the road cutting to the north. It was moderately well preserved with roundwoods up to 4.65m in length and 0.12m in diameter. The brushwood was densely laid in places, particularly to the south. The roundwood elements, which were largely situated along the edges of the trackway and held in place by the pegs, appeared to function as kerbs, although a central line of roundwoods was also present. At the southern end of the site there was a layer of roundwoods below the brushwood surface which appeared to form a substructure. Towards the northern end of the site the wood became very disordered, lying at a variety of angles and orientations and appearing to have been disturbed, perhaps in antiquity. The original length of this trackway remains unknown but it seems likely that it was constructed in order to bridge a particularly wet part of the bog and provide access to the interior from the dry land situated a short distance to the south.

Radiocarbon dating of a piece of alder returned a date of 4744±34 BP (UBA-24162)

Dominic Delany & Associates, Unit 3, Howley Court, Main Street, Oranmore, Co. Galway