Crannog

The National Monuments Service's description

In Templehouse lake, c. 200m from the N shore. A roughly circular low-cairn crannog (14m N-S; 11m E-W; H 1.4m above the soft sandy lake-bed). At the time of inspection it was submerged c. 0.4m below the water. It has an organic centre consisting of a mix of clay, mud and peat that is unstable but firm enough to walk on. There are a few flagstones and boulders laid out unevenly on the surface. The edge is defined by a slightly inward sloping stone wall consisting of loosely packed limestone stones (diam. c. 0.4m), that drops sharply down to the lake-bed. The stones form a frame for the organic interior of the site. According to local information, this crannog was built by gamekeepers from Co. Fermanagh who worked at the Templehouse estate around 1880. There is a crannog (SL033-030----) c. 200m to S.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005).

Date of upload: 18 January 2008