Crannog

The National Monuments Service's description

This possible crannog in Lough Guitane was reported to the Archaeological Survey of Ireland by Colm Chambers on the 19th of December 2014. He describes it as follows: "Built on a submerged rocky plateau towards the centre of the lake.....the island is an irregular oval shaped (if you ignore the dock feature) and measures c. 20m x 20m (when water levels are high)....the island is made up of loose and well rounded boulders with patchy and thin soil cover and overgrowth at its highest point on the SE side. Very slight and irregular possible wall lines are evident within the overgrowth and the soil contains frequent charcoal. There are also several hollow spots, a few metres across and 20-30cm deep, around the island. Most of the dock/harbour feature has collapsed but at the rear and along the SW side a few drystone courses remain intact. This feature is c.11m NE to SW and c.4m wide. This feature is similar to that at the crannog on Moher Lake (SMR MO098-007001-) in Mayo which has a 'stone lined dock 8m long and 2m wide in the SE section' (Morahan, L. 2001). An upright stone (possible mooring stone?) stands at the end of the naust/dock but this may be modern.....no timbers were evident around the island. Around the SW side of the island there was a hint of a wall line which may be collapsed revetting....the edge slope of the island was generally relatively sharp.''

Compiled by: Matt Kelleher

Date of upload: 23 December 2014