County: Offaly Site name: Mountlucas
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 13E0450
Author: Seán Shanahan
Site type: Post row
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 651010m, N 723760m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.261733, -7.235438
Monitoring was carried out as part of the MV collector system phase for the Wind Farm development at Mountlucas, Co. Offaly. OF018-181 (Post row – peatland) was identified within the cabling route corridor. Excavation of a section of the post row and a small peatland structure took place in Mountlucas Bog in advance of the excavation of a cable trench associated with the development of the wind farm. Two cuttings were excavated along the line of a north-north-west/south-south-east orientated post row and a total of 19 posts were recovered. Split timber and roundwood posts were both present, some of which displayed multiple concave facets. The peatland structure measured 1.75m by 1.22m and was constructed from a single layer of roundwood and brushwoods. The post row probably represents the last remnants of a trackway, while the interpretation of the structure, which may be a small platform, is less clear. Samples taken for radiocarbon dating are expected to return a prehistoric date.
A second excavation was conducted in Riverlyons townland for a number of previously identified archaeological elements as part of the same phase of works. The sites , which had a north-south orientation, comprised of two Class 2 toghers, a Class 3 togher, a post row and a piece of archaeological wood. Three of the sites consisted of rows of pegs, together with plank fragments, roundwoods and brushwoods, while one consisted of a row of pegs and the other of a single peg. No further sites were identified in the course of monitoring.
Shanarc Archaeology Ltd, 15 Woodlawn, Archers Ave, Kilkenny.
