Offaly and based on radiocarbon dating he died sometime between 362 BC and 175 BC.

Like many other bog bodies, Old Croghan Man had suffered a violent death before being deposited in the peaty depths. Rather horrifically, holes had been cut into his upper arms through which a rope of hazel withies was threaded in order to restrain the body. He was then stabbed and his nipples sliced, before finally being cut in half across the torso. Such extreme violence may indicate that his death involved some form of ritualistic murder or sacrifice.