Ancient boat is star of mountbellews forge museum

OVER a thousand years ago logboats (dug-outs) were used by people in Moylough to row across a flooded turlough near Esker Stephens cemetery — perhaps even in as far as Mountbellew to do their shopping? Now one of these flat-bottomed boats is the centre of attraction in the town’s Forge Museum.
Last week Michael Hogan, who unearthed the dug-out boat from the soil in a field on his father’s farm back in 1975, visited the Mountbellew museum from his home in Menlo near Galway. He wanted to see how well the boat has stood the test of time since was encased in a glass cabinet in the museum a few years after it was discovered.
While it is the central attraction, the museum also has many other artifacts from the Ireland of yesteryear that make it something of an Aladdin’s cave for school tours or others seeking to connect with the past, even back as far as 1001 AD which is the approximate date for the log boat, according to the National Museum of Ireland.

Read the full feature in this week's edition.