Road - togher, Longfordpass, Co. Tipperary
Co. Tipperary |
Roads & Tracks
At the northern end of Littleton Bog in County Tipperary, a scatter of ancient woodwork lies exposed on a milled peat surface, the remnants of what was once a togher.
A togher is a trackway laid across boggy or waterlogged ground, typically constructed from timber, brushwood, or other organic material to allow passage where the ground would otherwise be impassable. This particular example survived only partially, visible at two separate sightings oriented along a northeast-southwest line, its full extent hard to judge given the damage it has sustained.
The togher was recorded in 2006 during a peatland survey carried out by Archaeological Development Services, with findings published by Whitaker. At the first sighting, three well-spaced transverse brushwood and roundwood elements were found lying on the field surface, the wood moderately preserved but with upper surfaces lost to milling machinery. The individual pieces were small, ranging from 0.16 to 0.18 metres in length and between 0.03 and 0.06 metres in diameter. The surrounding peat was described as well-humified pool peat with frequent inclusions of Eriophorum, the cottongrass that is characteristic of wet, acidic bog environments. A second sighting, located roughly 20 metres to the southeast, was in poorer condition, composed of a single roundwood and three brushwood longitudinals, all damaged by machinery. Across both sightings, the overall length of the possible togher was estimated at around 20 metres, though Whitaker noted it was likely more substantial before industrial peat cutting took its toll. The wider context of Longfordpass and Littleton Bog places this find in a landscape long known for its archaeological potential, boglands being exceptional preservers of organic material that would vanish almost instantly in drier soils.

