Road - class 3 togher

The National Monuments Service's description

This site was located in the industrial peatlands of Cloonshannagh Bog. It was first recorded in the Reassessment Peatland Survey 2013 as an irregular deposit of closely placed roundwood and brushwood elements. It was located in an area 2.14m E-W by 6.5m N-S on the field surface alongside the drain edge (Whitaker 2014).

The site was excavated in 2015 under licence 15E0200, and was dated to cal. AD 1016-1154. It was found to be a roundwood and brushwood togher, 0.97–2.37m in width and orientated N-NW. Many of the elements had been machine damaged and were fractured along their lengths. Others had evidence of small branch trimming. The elements were apparently loosely scattered around some heavier longitudinals. Some fragmentary wood remains were noted on the field surface to the NW beyond the limit of the cutting.
Fifty-seven toolmarks were noted which consisted of mainly flat single faceted chisel points with occasional wedge points noted. Alder and birch were dominant in the wood species identified. Other species included hazel, pomoideae, holly and cherry (Coughlan and Whitaker 2019).

Compiled by: Femke Vleeshouwer/Jane Whitaker/Tim Coughlan

Date of upload: 17 April 2020

References

Coughlan, T & Whitaker, J 2019 Final excavation report Cloonshannagh Bog, Co Roscommon. Bord na Mona Peatland Archaeological Services 2014-2017. Unpublished report submitted to DOEHLG & BnM

Whitaker, J. 2014 Re‐assessment Peatland Survey 2013, Blackwater, Boora, Derrydreenagh, Mountdillon Group of Bogs, County Offaly, Longford, Westmeath and Roscommon. Unpublished report prepared by ADS for Bord na Móna.