Crannog

The National Monuments Service's description

The precise location of this crannóg situated on the S end of the W shoreline of Lough Bane has not been identified. The monument is not visible on any of the OSI aerial photographs of the lake. The shape and size of the lake has been altered by drainage works and is now much smaller than its appearance of the OS 6-inch maps. A grove of trees visible at S end of the lake on reclaimed land may be the remains of the crannóg. In 1980 the site was described as following; 'This small Lough has a small island on the southern part of the western shoreline, which may be a possible crannóg. The only access to the Lough is from the Finnea-Castlepollard road to the east, and involves about a mile walk, the last 200 yards to the Lough’s shore is inaccessible due to flooding, and the island itself is surrounded by thick bull-rushes and would be also impenetrable. I can only designate this site as a possible crannóg due to inaccessibility’ (ASI Field Report 01/09/1980).
In 2004 this crannóg was described by O'Sullivan (2004, 60-1) as following; 'Located in the middle of Lough Bane, a small bog lake, about 100m from its S shoreline. A large, low, circular mound (approx. dims. 20m N-S x 35m E-W; H 1-2m), located on marshy ground. It appears as a low, grassy island surrounded by bull-rushes, surmounted with some trees and bushes. It appears to have an irregular surface and gradually sloping sides. It is a very isolated site, totally surrounded today by bogs and riverine marshes, all with very low agricultural potential. It is inaccessible today without a boat. However, the site may originally have been accessible by waterways from the Inny River, which flows through the bogs to the E, perhaps indicating its role on a significant routeway'.

Compiled by: Frank Coyne & Caimin O'Brien

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 6 March 2017

References

O'Sullivan, A. 2004 The social and ideological roles of crannogs in early medieval Ireland. Unpublished PhD thesis. Department of History, NUI Maynooth.