Crannog

The National Monuments Service's description

Located in Drumaleague Lough, now a small lake (dims c. 300m E-W; c. 200m N-S) on the Ballinamore and Ballyconnell canal, but it was much larger (dims c. 800m ENE-WSW; c. 230m N-S at E) in the nineteenth century, extending further W on the 1835 edition of the OS 6-inch map. A crannog, discovered in the 1850s, consisted of a cairn (diam. c. 18m) defined at the edge by one to three lines of upright stakes. At the centre was a rectangular platform (dims c. 12m x c. 3m) of timbers which were laid flat. It is not now visible at ground level, and its precise location is not known. Another crannog (LE028-006001-) was also found in the lake at the same time. (Graves 1858-9, 132-3; 1859, 190; Wood-Martin 1886, 240-41)

The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Leitrim' compiled by Michael J. Moore (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2003). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 23 September 2008

References

Wood-Martin, W.G. 1886 (Reprint 1983) The lake dwellings of Ireland: or ancient lacustrine habitations of Erin, commonly called crannogs. Dublin. Hodges, Figgis and Co.

Graves, Rev. J. 1859 Ancient lake-habitations of Switzerland and Ireland. Ulster Journal of Archaeology 1st Series, 7, 179-94.

Graves, Rev. J. 1858-9 What we learn from Wilde's catalogue of the antiquities in the museum of the Royal Irish Academy. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 5, 110-48.