Two of three logboats I found by drone in the river Boyne are new discoveries!

May 8, 2021

The Underwater Archaeology Unit of the National Monuments Service has told Anthony Murphy that two of the three dugout boats he spotted in the river Boyne at Drogheda are new discoveries.

Over the course of the past fortnight, there has been much media attention around my revelations that there were THREE ancient wooden dugout boats sitting in the bed of the river Boyne at Drogheda. Following my discovery of the first boat, the National Monuments Service announced that it believed this boat had been previously reported to them by a member of the public in 2020. I then found a second, upturned, boat, followed by a third.

A wide view showing the moment of spotting the first logboat, now confirmed as a new discovery by NMS.

I am delighted to report that I have received communication from the Underwater Archaeology Unit of the National Monuments Service confirming that, of the three dugout boats I spotted in the river Boyne in Drogheda recently with my drone, numbers #1 and #3 are NEW DISCOVERIES, - not previously reported to NMS.

I am delighted.

The two new discoveries are pictured below.

A drone photo of the first logboat discovery. That's an old sack and other unrelated detritus sitting in the boat.

The third logboat, also confirmed as a new discovery by National Monuments Service, is situated 400m downstream of the first one.

The second logboat, which is upside down and incomplete, was previously known to the Underwater Archaeology Unit of the National Monuments Service. It is photographed below.