Archaeologists working in a Co Offaly bog have discovered a wooden crozier which may be the earliest of its kind recovered in Ireland, dating from the 6th century AD.
The find was made by Ms Ellen O'Carroll of Archaeological Development Services, working for Bord na Mona in advance of its peat harvesting programme at Leamanaghan.
The crozier, which is being examined by experts in Dublin, has been preliminarily identified as cherrywood. It was found stuck vertically in the peat beside an ancient track through the bog.
Ms O'Carroll said the crozier was carved longitudinally from a stem or branch and then polished. Although broken at several points along its length, it can be fitted together.
"When it is fitted it would appear to be 1.25 metres in length and 25 mm in diameter. It would probably have been held along the shaft as its height would inhibit holding it at the crook," she said.
"What is really interesting about the crozier is that the crook itself has a Greek cross located in a circle incised into the wood and the tip of the shaft is stepped and pointed. "There may have been a metal point originally positioned on the end but we cannot be sure of that. But we do believe that this is probably the earliest dated in Ireland so far." She explained the crozier was unearthed beside a wooden togher, or pathway, which had been dated by dendrochronology to AD 596.
The pathway was made of split oak planks which run across the width of the bog, which is close to Ferbane.
"The upper walking surface was constructed of split oak planks laid end-to-end and pegged into the peat at each end through a mortice hole," she said.
Underneath the oak planks were roundwood and transverse supports and under each transverse were two supporting longitudinal runners.
These timbers and runners elevated the plank walkway off the surface of the wet bog and provided a pathway running southwards from dryland fringes of Killaghintober to Leamanaghan Island.
Ms O'Carroll explained that Leamanaghan contains the remains of St Manchan's Church, reputed to have been founded before the saint's death in AD 665.
"We can only speculate who owned or lost the crozier but back in those days there were a lot of bishops around. But this was always a place of Christian worship," she said.
On Tuesday, accompanied by Mr Donal Wynne, chief environmental engineer with Bord na Mona, she pointed out a series of tracks uncovered during preparatory work for harvesting.
Mr Wynne explained that in removing the top layer of the bog, networks of brushwood, and roundwood trackways, a small wooden platform and hurdle tracks had been found.
Ms O'Carroll said the tracks date from the mid-10th century to the 17th century and are being excavated. So far, a number of coins and some leather shoes have been uncovered.
Later this month, according to a report in Archaeology Ireland, Bord na Mona will announce a joint programme of excavations with Duchas, to be funded by Bord na Mona.
Mr Wynne said new legislation covering the operations of Bord na Mona obliged it to carry out archaeological investigations before harvesting.
Ms O'Carroll said they were bound to uncover more finds, as the bogs of Ireland were a treasure house of history.
