County: Roscommon Site name: CLS086, Caul, Cloonshannagh Bog
Sites and Monuments Record No.: n/a Licence number: 14E0259
Author: Tim Coughlan
Site type: Platform
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 602893m, N 780999m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.778564, -7.956108
Cloonshannagh Bog is located 3km north-west of Termonbarry and 2.5km west of Lough Forbes. The bog is part of the Bord na Móna Mountdillon Group and has a total area of 331 hectares. A survey by ADS in 2008, under licence 08E0645, identified a total of 88 sites. Upon re-assessment by ADS in 2013 under licence 13E0221, 89 sites were recorded. Of the 89 sightings, 60 were platform sightings, 18 sightings were of archaeological wood and 11 were trackway sightings, all of varying lengths and widths. Of these 35 sites were listed for excavation as part of the current contract.
A 4m x 3m cutting was opened at the recorded sighting of CLS086. The peat above the site C861 was a poorly humified (H1-H2) sphagnum peat. It had frequent inclusions of eriophorum and calluna.
The excavated remains consisted of a platform with a substructure and superstructure. The brushwood substructure was formed by up to 2 layers that appeared to be randomly laid with no clear orientation, and moderate density. The elements were generally in good condition and ranged in size from 0.11–0.85m and from 0.01–0.032m in diameter. The superstructure consisted of heavy brushwoods and roundwoods all laid with an east–west orientation. They were tightly packed in roughly two layers. The condition of the elements was moderate to good. The elements ranged in size from 0.37–2.5m long and 0.03–0.14m in diameter. A date of AD 905–1029 was returned from a piece of a worked stake, of pomoideae.
IAC Ltd, Unit G1, Network Enterprise Park, Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow
