Crannog

The National Monuments Service's description

This crannóg was listed as Kiltoom 10 and described by O'Sullivan (2004, 80-1) as following; 'The site is located at the NE end of the lake. It has excellent views to the NW, W and SW. It is overlooked by a steep slope to the NE. The ancient shoreline is 50m to the NE. The site is depicted on OS maps as a small island in the water with a causeway linking it to shore,
where there is a broad, natural terrace. Today, it is at the water’s edge, with depths of 1m off
its W side. This crannóg is an enhanced natural islet, with several cairns of stones spread across the surface of a prominent limestone bedrock outcrop. The bedrock is particularly raised above the water surface to the NW. To the SE, near the mid-point of the island, large boulders are spread over an area measuring 5m (N-S). There are also large stones and boulders laid against the SE side o f the outcrop. The islet slopes steeply down to the shore on all sides, but particularly to the NE towards the land. There is a broad, low causeway of stone and earth leading to the shore, measuring c. 30m in length, 10m in width (it appears to have been added to by modern land clearance). There are 3 duck hides on the island, to N, NE and S'. (O'Sullivan et. al. 2007, 128-9)

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Aidan O'Sullivan.

Date of upload: 6 March 2017

References

O'Sullivan, A., Sands, R. and Kelly, E.P. 2007 Coolure Demesne crannog, Lough Derravarragh, Co. Westmeath: a crannog and its landscapes. Bray. Wordwell.

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 Unpublished PhD thesis.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