Corlea Trackway Center. Co. Longford.

I finally got round to visiting Corlea Trackway Center near Keenagh in Co Longford recently. The center has not long opened for its Summer season. It takes just a little care to find but well worth it. Firstly here is a direct link to their website with all information's required for visiting......
http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/midlandseastcoast/corleatrackwayvisitorcentre/   

Heres a lnk to Bord na Mona,s site........  well worth reading !
http://www.bnm.ie/corporate/index.jsp?1nID=93&2nID=102&3nID=340&4nID=344&nID=353


 Here's another link to Megalithomania site where more good information can be gleaned......
http://www.megalithomania.net/show/site/1143/corlea_ancient_trackway_visitor_centre.htm

                                                          Pictures

1 & 2  Are of inormation boards displayed in round foyer.
3 & 4  Is the view which greets you on your entry to the room where the Trackway is housed.
5  Shows a little more detail of the track.
6  Shows detail of the oak wood of which it was made and some wooden fixing pegs.
7  Showing how wooden peg was used to anchor oak plank.

                            Click on pictures to enlarge.
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                            OS Map no 40 Grid Ref N 104 623.

The center itself is well run and very informative. There are guided tours which are made interesting. I spent some time looking at the information on display in the foyer before entering the Trackway room. Its time well spent to get a general idea of what your about to see.

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Two pictures of information boards.

 Then we entered the long room that the trackway is preserved in. The first thing you notice is the drop in temperature a sort of soft moist atmosphere. They have to keep the room at a certain temperature and aso have it environment controled to preserve the old wood. Following are some pictures of the Trackway itself.

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Now to a quick precis of my visit. Basically I learnt that this was a wooden oak trackway made by the early celtic Irish peoples accross a bog c,187 BC.  A trackway that eventually sank under its own weight over a rough period of ten years. Capable of carrying wheeled vehicles over the surface of a bog,But it never seems to have done. Why was it built? Was it part of a royal network of roads?   [ Uisneach is not far away and also Rathcroghan ]....  Was it  a ceromonial road blah di blah?  I came away with more questions than answers. One of which remains with me..... these guys could build wooden roads... well designed.... well put together...but they didn't consider the future.... I mean their road sank after 10 years. The mind boggles I'll figure it all out one of these years. All in all a place well worth a visit if you happen to be within a 50 mile radius, Certainly makes you think!

Fionn.