Crannog

The National Monuments Service's description

This crannóg was described by O'Sullivan (2004, 62-3) as following; 'Located mid-way down the lake, on the W shore. It has very good views to the N, E and SE. It is overlooked by steeply rising slopes 70m to WSW. The present shoreline is 15m to the NE, the ancient shoreline is 51m to the SW. A low, oval-shaped cairn (dims. 9.5m N-S x 7.5m E-W; H 1m) of stone, situated on the level, marshy foreshore. Originally, it would have been located in 1-2m water and is depicted as an islet in water on second edition OS maps. The cairn appears to be situated on a local, slightly raised natural ridge running NW/SE, parallel with the water’s edge. The cairn has a flat, level upper surface. It slopes steeply down to the shore on east and west sides, and is more gradually sloping on N and S sides. There is a possible defining stone kerb of large boulders (50-60cm) at the NE edge, facing out into the lake. The cairn is constructed of medium-sized, angular and water-rolled limestone blocks (50cm in length, 20cm thickness) and small stones. A well-constructed duck-hide is located in the NE sector. The cairn is overgrown by weeds and brambles. This is an unusual site, being a small cairn, originally built in shallow water. Interestingly, there is a small, high-cairn crannóg 800m to the NE, directly across the lake at Faughalstown (WM007-128----). It is possible that these two sites functioned as markers for a crossing point of the lake'. (O'Sullivan et. al. 2007, 117-8)

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

Date of 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 Unpublished PhD thesis.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.

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