County: Offaly Site name: Castlearmstrong, Leabeg and Lemanaghan, Castletown Bog
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 13E0217
Author: Jane Whitaker
Site type: Peatland
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 617346m, N 729377m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.314379, -7.739690
A re-assessment field walking survey was carried out in Curraghmore Bog in August 2013 on behalf of Bord na Móna. Castletown Bog is located 3km west of Ballycumber and 5km east of Ferbane, Co Offaly and is part of the Boora Group of Bogs. It measures c. 150ha in size and has been in production since 1992. It is part of an area collectively known as Lemanaghan Bogs comprising the adjoining Killaghintober, Lemanaghan, Corhill and Derrynagun Bogs.
There are 86 records of sites, recorded during the 1998 IAWU survey, in the Archaeological Survey of Ireland database in Castletown Bog. These comprise one Early Medieval Road – Class 1 Togher (OF007-215) from the townlands of Castlearmstrong, Cornafurrish and Corrabeg, three Road – Class 2 Toghers from Leabeg and Castlearmstrong, sixteen Road - Class 3 Toghers from Castlearmstrong and 66 now redundant records of smaller sites which were mainly composed of worked and unworked wood in situ.
Excavations were carried out in Castletown Bog in 1999? by ADS during the first season of BnM mitigation at which time 8 toghers, a platform, a plank trackway (road class 1 – togher) and wood remains were excavated under eight excavation licences. These sites were Early to Late Medieval in date.
The Re-Assessment survey on Castletown Bog was carried out in August 2013 by ADS at which time three sites were recorded. The Plank Trackway/Road Class 1 Togher OF007-215 mentioned above was relocated and recorded as OF-CTN001a-g across 10 production fields. The majority of the sightings were exposed on the field surface apart from sighting OF-CTN001a which was recorded in section in the drain face of a higher, former stockpile, field. The other two sites were short lengths of Road Class 3 toghers, one of which OF-CTN002a-b, was located close to the northern limit of the BnM production bog close to the enclosure site OF007-049 while the other, OF-CTN003a-b, was located in the southern extent of the narrowest part of the bog in an area where there were numerous sites recorded previously.
ADS ltd, Unit 4 The Printhouse, 22-23 South Cumberland Street, Dublin 2.
