Ancient Road — Coolbanagher,morett

Over a mile long section of ancient road running E-W, is marked on all editions of OS 6-inch maps. The E section is marked 'Site of' on the 1909 edition No visible surface remains. The W section is covered by a modern road (O'Flanagan 1933, vol. 1, 219). Archaeological testing on the trackway was carried out by Grace Fegan in 2003 under excavation licence no. 03E0140. Archaeological testing on the trackway was carried out by Eoghan Moore in 2003 under excavation licence no. 03E0429. Excavation by Grace Fegan revealed a metalled stone surface (Wth 2.69m; 0.08m thick) of well preserved cobbles which were set in a dark organic sandy silt. A sherd of Saintonge pottery was found within the layer of extremely compacted yellow clay that directly overlay the cobbles. This site was later fully excavated by Eoghan Moore under licence number 03E0429 (Bennett 2006, 292). The excavation by Eoghan Moore involved an area of 25m N-S by 45m E-W. The stone surface of the 'ancient road' was made up of larger stones, with a length of more than 0.1m, and smaller stones that measured less than 0.1m. Two linear wheel ruts were also identified running along one part of the road surface. The combined evidence of the artefacts and local knowledge/folklore would suggest that the 'ancient road' was primarily used during the medieval/early modern period (c. 1200 to mid 19th century) (Bennett 2006, 293) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 17 December 2007