Road - class 3 togher, Cloontamore, Co. Longford
Co. Longford |
Roads & Tracks
In the bogland of Cloontamore, Co. Longford, a narrow road lies preserved beneath the peat, built not from stone or gravel but from lengths of ash wood laid end to end across wet ground that would otherwise have been impassable.
It is 1.1 metres wide and survives to a depth of around 0.2 metres, running on a north-north-east to south-south-west alignment, a quiet line of intention pressed into the landscape.
This is a togher, the Irish term for a bog road or trackway, a form of ancient infrastructure found across the midland wetlands of Ireland. Toghers were constructed by laying timber, brushwood, or other organic material directly onto boggy ground to create a firm surface for movement, whether for people, livestock, or both. This particular example is classified as a class 3 togher, and its construction is relatively straightforward: roundwood timbers, most of them ash, laid longitudinally rather than across the path of travel. Ash was a practical choice, being both widely available and reasonably durable. The bog itself did the rest, its low-oxygen, highly acidic environment slowing decay to a near halt and holding the wood in something close to its original condition for what may be centuries.
