Road

During resurfacing of the Limerick-Dublin road in 1950 an old timber road or togher was discovered running underneath in an area of bog. The togher is described as consisting of 'whole trees or branches, 6in to 1ft [0.15-0.3m] in diameter, laid side by side. The length of each unit varied from about 5 to 7ft [1.5-2.1m]. The ends showed evidence of having been half cut with an axe-like instrument and then broken by bending. In some cases the ends were roughly pointed. In most instances the bark had been stripped or rotted away, but traces still adhered to a few of the smaller-diameter units. The timbers were soft and waterlogged shen removed and bore no discernible marks of wheels. A number of other small pieces of timber were removed including wedges and pegs' (Hanrahan 1950, 64). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien. Date of upload: 22 September 2008