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Ridged Bronze Age Logboat from Tonregee Td, Co. Mayo
Mike Robinson, Gerry Cribbin, David Shimwell.
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On 6th November, 1994, at the invitation of the landowner the authors visited the farm of James Coyne of Tonregee Td, Co. Mayo- They were shown the remains of a section of worked oak wood which they identified as a logboat. The wood had been removed from an area about 0.4 m. below the modem surface of a bog during a reclamation programme in 1987 It had apparently been found amongst heaped stone located either in or on top of the bog. The stones had been removed and discarded during reclamation. Since that time the logboat had lain uncovered beside a meiring drain on the farm It showed signs of some algal and lichen growth and of earthworm activity, and in consequence of exposure to the elements and drying by wind and sun the wood was beginning to shrink at some points.
Because of its fragile condition detailed measurements, field drawing, photography, and visual examination was conducted without moving the vessel. This meant that the bottom of the hull was not examined. The vessel is approximately 3.5 m. long, with a maximum surviving beam of 0-6 m. at one extremity, tapering slightly towards the opposite end, perhaps with the taper of the original log. Both ends are blunted in plan and tapered in elevation and it is impossible to know with certainty which of them is the bow and which is the Stern. Approximately 0.5 m. from one of the inboard margins, however, is a raised and rounded ridge 0.1 m. wide which spans the width of the boat and which was probably used to afford traction as it was propelled through the water. The presence of this ridge, which is not uncommon in logboats , indicates the probable location of the stern. It is likely that the blunted ends of the boat were used as seating. Over most of its length the sides have been lost, though about 0.25 m. survives at the stern on the port side suggesting an original draft of about 0.25m.
Log-boat found at Koilmore, Claremorris, Co Mayo, similar
to the one featured in this article
Logboats have been used from at least Neolithic times to the present day and display many different designs and varying levels of sophistication. The Tonregee boat is of a basic and uncomplicated type. It was hollowed from a single split trunk of oak (Quercus sp. )and, with the exception of the ridge-work and the tapering of the hull elevation at bow and stern, it appears to have been otherwise unrefined. No evidence of tool marks were found. Nevertheless it seems likely that in the design of these vernacular craft deliberate principles were adopted. The cross-sectional form of logboats, for example, can vary from half-rounded, to rectangular or square For the purposes of carrying payloads, the square sectioned boat is the most efficient and the half-rounded form the least efficient On the other hand, square-sectioned and rectangular boats tend to be less stable than the half-rounded form. Similarly, the half-rounded boat presents less resistance to propulsion, especially where the ends are tapered in elevation and where the draft of the boat is not great. We can assume therefore, that the Tonregee logboat was built for speed and easy maneouvre in shallow waters. It was probably propelled by paddle and used predominantly for hunting or for collecting reeds rather than for the transport of goods or people.
The logboat was dated in radiocarbon years to 3080 +/- 60 BP which calibrates at two standard deviations to 1440 -1145 BC in calendar years. Since the sample selected for dating was taken towards the pith of the original tree rather than towards the bark, however, the true age of the boat is probably slightly younger. Nonetheless it can be assigned to the Early Bronze Age and is amongst the oldest of such boats recovered in Ireland. More work remains to be done on the environment of the find and particularly on the history of the Tonregee bog. At this point it seems certain that the boat is much younger than the bog and that it was probably in use at a time when lake margins were shrinking under encroaching peat.
In March 1995 the logboat was inspected by Andy Halpin of the National Museum He recommended that, because of its completeness, it should be retrieved and conserved. In June 1995 the boat was taken from Tonregee to the Museum’s conservation facility at Cloontuskert, Co. Roscommon where the work of stabilising its condition is now taking place.
Authors
Mike
Robinson and David Shimwell are from the Dept of Geography, University of