crannog

Reconstructed crannóg on Loch Tay

A crannóg is an artificial island, usually originally built in lakes, rivers and estuarine waters, and most often used as an island settlement or dwelling place in prehistoric or medieval times. The name itself may refer to a wooden platform erected on shallow floors, but few remains of this sort have been found. The name crannóg, Anglicized "crannoge", is from Old Irish "crannóc", from crann, tree. and 'og' young.

Crannógs are most common in Ireland, where at least 2,000 examples are known. They are also very common in Scotland, with at least 600 sites known. It is likely that many more undiscovered sites lie hidden underwater, or in reeds, carr woodland or other wetland environments around lake shores and edges. Today, crannogs typically appear as small, circular islands, 10-30m in diameter, covered in trees and bushes because they are isolated from browsing livestock. Originally, crannogs may have taken many different forms. The classic image of an ancient crannóg is of a small island, surrounded or defined at its edges by a post or oak plank palisade and on top of which is a roundhouse. Another image, as suggested by excavations at Oakbank, Loch Tay, Scotland, is one of a raised platform on stilts. The choice of an island as a home remains mysterious, but they may have been used for defence at times of danger, for social display by the wealthy and prosperous, or because islands carried many meanings in the past. Some crannogs could be reached from the nearest shore by means of a causeway built up with stones, or a wooden gangway built atop raised piles, but most were probably accessed by boat.

Late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers are known to have occupied constructed lakeshore platforms in central and north-west Ireland at c.4500 BC. Neolithic crannógs are also known, notable in Scotland. The islet of Eilean Domhnuill, Loch Olabhat on North Uist may be the earliest crannóg, dated to 3200-2800 BC in the Neolithic period. Most crannógs were in use from the Iron Age through to the early Medieval period, at about the same time as the brochs, the wags, duns and the larger roundhouses. In Ireland, most crannógs date to the early medieval period, when they were the island dwelling places of kings, lords, prosperous farmers and occasionally socially marginalised groups.

The largest concentrations of crannógs in Ireland are in the lakelands district of the midlands, the north west and Ulster. The highest concentrations of crannógs in Scotland are in several lochs in Dumfries and Galloway region, although many have been found in the highlands as well. In the Grampian Highlands, a well known crannóg was built by the Burnetts of Leys, whose family thence moved nearby to the present 16th century Crathes Castle.

A crannóg dating from around 500 AD still stands in a lough in Loughbrickland, near Banbridge, County Down, and another can be seen in Llangorse Lake in the Brecon Beacons National Park, built c889-893 AD.

Reconstructed crannógs are located in Craggaunowen, Ireland; the Irish National Heritage Park, in Wexford, Ireland; and on Loch Tay in Scotland.

A variant of the crannóg was the island roundhouse. Built on a small, rocky island in a lochan and usually reached by means of a causeway, these are extremely common in the Western Isles. The visible remains are most often those of a dún, although there are examples of full broch towers occupying some sites. Few have been excavated, and most of those show earlier occupation underneath the visible remains. Dún is the gaelic word for "fort", and a number of Scottish castles use Dun- as a prefix.

It was used as a stronghold and residence of Gaelic chieftains such as the O'Boylans and McMahons in County Monaghan and the ancient Kingdom of Airgíalla up until the 1600s.

Construction

Loughbrickland Crannog in Northern Ireland.

The construction of a prehistoric crannóg began on a small island or shoal that was located within a loch or marsh. This rise was surrounded by a circle of oak piles with axe-sharpened bases that were driven into the bottom, forming a circular enclosure of about 200 ft. in diameter. The piles were then joined together by interlaced branches and wattle. Then, the interior surface was built up, first with wooden logs, then with branches and rocks, clay, peat, and other earthen materials. At the centre, a large stone hearth was built with large flat stones, and a wooden home was constructed around it. Sometimes, multiple homes were built on a single crannóg.

This prehistoric fortification was occupied by a family or tribe, and access was often achieved by means of dugout canoe. However, many were connected to shore by timber or stone causeways, sometimes lying just beneath the surface of the water concealing them from potentially hostile intruders. The bones of cattle, deer, and swine have been found in excavated crannógs.

There is an example of a reconstructed crannóg at the "Scottish Crannóg Centre" at Loch Tay, Perthshire.

References

• Burnett, George (1901). J. Allardyce (ed). ed. The Family of Burnett of Leys. Aberdeen: New Spalding Club. 
• Armit, Ian (2000). Scotland's Hidden History. Tempus Publishing, Limited. ISBN 0-7524-1400-3. 
• Armit, Ian (1996). The Archaeology of Skye and the Western Isles. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0-7486-0640-8. 
• Dixon, Nicholas (2004). The Crannogs of Scotland: An underwater archaeology. Tempus Publishing, Limited. ISBN 0-7524-3151-X. 
• Morrison, I. 1985 Landscape with Lake Dwellings Edinburgh University Press
• Crone, A. 2000 The History of a Scottish Lowland Crannog: excavations at Buiston AOC/STAR Monograph 4, Edinburgh
• Cavers, M.G. and Henderson, J.C 2005 Underwater Excavation at Ederline Crannog, Loch Awe, Argyll, Scotland International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, vol.34.2, pp.278-94
• O'Sullivan, A. 1998 The Archaeology of Lake Settlement in Ireland Discovery Programme, Dublin
• O'Sullivan, A. 2000 Crannogs: lake dwellings of early Ireland Town House, Dublin
• Fredengren C. 2002 Crannogs Wordwell, Bray

External links

• The Scottish Crannog Centre Reconstruction of a crannog.
• Crannog illustration showing attack in Monaghan, Ireland in 1500s.
• Channel 4 Time Team on Crannogs The Channel 4 Time Team on Crannogs.
• Channel 4 Time Team at Loch Migdale The Channel 4 Time Team excavation at Loch Migdale, January 2004.
• Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland A searchable database of archaeological sites in Scotland, including crannogs (requires free registration).
• Llangors Crannog