What is recorded here

Two squared oak timbers lie buried in River Barrow sediment south of Athy, waiting for water or forgetting to reveal their purpose. They may have braced a vanished stream bank before the river claimed the valley, turning human engineering into river memory.

Archaeological monitoring (Fegan 2002. Excavation Licence No. 02E0300) of groundworks necessitated by the Fortbarrington Sewerage Scheme, S of Athy town and to the W of and in the flood-plain of the River Barrow, revealed three, squared, oak timbers lying in river sediments. The timbers lie 21m N of a small E-flowing tributary of the Barrow, which flows S c. 150m to the E. Two timbers were excavated; ‘Timber 1’ (L 1.97m; Wth 0.3m; T 0.25m) and ‘Timber 2’ (L 0.42m; Wth 0.3m; T 0.25m), while ‘Timber 3’ was recorded and preserved in situ (traceable L 3.57m E-W; Wth 0.21m; T 0.18m). The excavator suggests that the timbers may be revetments that were originally set into the bank of a stream, the course of which was subsequently diverted. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 09 January 2013

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