Crannog

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated 20m from the current shoreline in the N end of Levallinree Lough which is surrounded by low hills and boggy land.
This crannog is not shown on the 1838 OS 6-inch map, but is indicated as a small subcircular island on the 1920 edition. The crannog consists of a subcircular cairn (26.5m N−S; 25m E−W) of medium-sized stones, rising to a height of c. 2.5m above water level. Around the edges are the remains of a palisade of radially-split oak planks set into the lower levels of the cairn material. Outside of this there are circular retaining piles forming a band c. 0.4m from the outer limit of the cairn material. At the SE, a large oak beam (Wth 0.44m; T 0.18m) protrudes horizontally from the lower levels of the matrix of the crannog. It has a mortice cut into it, into which a timber peg is set. Three other beams were noted on the N side of the crannog, at a time when water levels were lower; one measures 6m long, 0.2m wide and 0.2m thick, and contains two mortices.
A number of artefacts, now in the National Museum, were recovered: A socketed head of an iron three-pronged fish spear, a socketed iron spade blade and an iron axehead were found at the SE side of the crannog; also recovered were a lead weight, a fragment of a pewter flagon, and a fragment of a whetstone. In addition, four dugout canoes were noted on the lake bottom in the vicinity of the crannog (Lawless et al. 1989, 22).
In 1989 two structural oak timbers from the crannog were sampled for dendrochronological dating analysis. One of the beams, which has a ring pattern spanning a 208 year period, tied into a suite of Irish tree-ring chronologies which gives it an end or felling date of AD 609 (ibid., 24).

Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 6 September 2018

This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 1/1984).

References

Lawless, C., O'Floinn, R., Baillie, M. and Brown, D. 1989 Levallinree crannog. An early 7th century lake dwelling in Co. Mayo. Cathair na Mart Journal of the Westprt Historical Society 9, no. 1, 21-25.