Dr. Reeves, writing about a crannog in the county of Antrim, says: "These piles were from 17 to 20 feet long, and from 6 to 8 inches thick, driven into the bed of the lough, and projecting above this bed about 5 or 6 feet. They were bound together at the top by horizontal oak beams, into which they were mortised, and secured in the mortise by stout wooden pegs."[4]
My next quotation is from a paper by G. H. Kinahan, Esq., of the Geological Survey of Ireland, on Crannogs in Lough Rea: "A little N.W. of the double row, in the old working, there is a part of a circle of piles; and in another, a row of piles running nearly E. and W. Mr. Hemsworth of Danesfort, who spent many of his younger days boating on the lake, and knows every part of it, informs me that on the upper end of some of the upright piles there were the marks of where horizontal beams were mortised on them. These seemed now to have disappeared, as I did not remark them."[5]
Mr. Wakeman, to whose writings I have already referred, writes as follows: "It would appear that, in some instances at least, their spike-like tops were anciently mortised into holes cut for their reception in beams of oak, which were laid horizontally. Just one such beam we found undisturbed, resting on the vertical spike in situ. A respectable elderly man, named Coulter, who resides not far from the lough (Ballydoolough) informed me that he well recollected to have seen many of these horizontal timbers resting upon the stakes or piles. They were hardly ever uncovered, but were distinctly visible a few inches below the surface of the water. This I believe to be a feature in the construction of crannogs but seldom remarked."[6]
As indications of the social economy and industries of the occupiers of these crannogs, there were found many articles made of stone, bone, wood, bronze, and iron, such as swords, knives, spears, javelins, dagger-blades, sharpening-stones, querns, beads, pins, brooches, combs, horse-trappings, shears, chains, axes, pots, bowls, etc., and within the last few years, according to Mr. Wakeman,[7] many fragments of pottery, of a similar character to the fictile ware used for mortuary purposes in the prehistoric and pagan period, have also been found on some of them.
Many of these relics were deposited in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, but it is to be regretted that, owing partly to the system of classification now adopted in this Museum, by which articles are grouped together on the principle of resemblance, few of them can be identified or separated from the general collection, so that, except some articles thrown loosely into a drawer, and labelled as having been found in the crannogs of Dunshaughlin, Ballinderry, and Strokestown, no special or representative collection of crannog-remains now exists in Ireland. Several ancient canoes are well preserved in the lower portion of the Museum. Some have square-cut sterns, others have both ends pointed, some have cross bands, like ribs, left in the solid oak at regular intervals, as if to strengthen the sides of the vessel, while others are uniformly scooped out without any raised ridges. They vary much in size and shape. The largest is thus referred to in the small handbook to the Museum:—
"Down the centre of the room extends the largest known canoe, formed of a single tree. The remains measure 42 feet in length, and the canoe was probably 45 feet long, by from 4 to 5 feet wide, in its original state. It was recovered from the bottom of Loch Owel, in West Meath, and cut into eight sections for purposes of transport. There is a curious arrangement of apertures in the bottom, apparently to receive the ends of uprights supporting an elevating deck."
On the antiquity of the Irish crannogs, Sir W. R. Wilde writes as follows:—"Certainly the evidences derived from the antiquities found in ours, and which are chiefly of iron, refer them to a much later period than the Swiss; while we do not find any flint arrows or stone celts, and but very few bronze weapons, in our crannogs. Moreover, we have positive documentary evidence of the occupation of many of these fortresses in the time of Elizabeth, and some even later."—(Proceedings of Royal Irish Academy, vol. vii. p. 152.) Subsequent researches, however, have shown that all the desiderated articles above mentioned have been found on crannogs. For instance, amongst the remains described by Mr. Shirley, from the crannogs in MacMahon's country, are stone celts, an arrow-head of flint, two arrow-heads of bronze, three looped bronze celts, bronze knives, etc.;[8] and G. H. Kinahan, Esq., M.R.I.A., thus concludes a short notice on Irish Lake-Dwellings, contributed to Keller's book (2d edit. p. 654):—"Of the time when the crannōgs were first built there is no known record, but that they must have been inhabited at an early period is evident, as antiquities belonging to the stone age are found in them. Some were in use up to modern times, Crannough Macknavin, County Galway, having been destroyed in A.D. 1610, by the English, while Ballynahuish Castle was inhabited fifty years ago. Some crannōgs seem to have been continuously occupied until they were finally abandoned, while others were deserted for longer or shorter periods. In Shore Island, Lough Rea, County Galway, there is a lacustrine accumulation over 3 feet thick, marking the time that elapsed between two occupations.
"In Wakefield's Island, A.D. 1812, attention was directed to a crannōg in Lough Nahineb, County Tipperary; but to the late Sir W. R. Wilde, M.D., is due the credit of bringing these structures prominently under public notice. This observer records forty-six crannōgs (Catalogue, Royal Irish Academy, vol. i. p. 220 et seq.), but since then twice as many have been recorded, most of which are described in the publications of the Royal Irish Academy, or kindred Societies; but a systematic classification of the crannōgs has yet to be made."
Continental Lake Dwellings.
Soon after the discovery of the Irish crannogs, the attention of archæologists was directed to remains of lake-dwellings in Switzerland. It appears that during the winter of 1853-4 the inhabitants of Ober Meilen, near Zürich, took advantage of the low state of the water in the lake to recover portions of the land, which they enclosed with walls, and filled in the space with mud. When the workmen began to excavate, they came upon heads of wooden piles, stone celts, stags' horns, and various kinds of implements. The late Dr. Ferdinand Keller, President of the Antiquarian Society at Zürich, hearing of the discovery, took up the matter with much energy, and after careful investigation of the remains at Ober Meilen, came to the conclusion that the piles had supported a platform, that on this platform huts had been erected, and that, after being inhabited for many centuries, the whole wooden structure had been destroyed by fire. Dr. Keller called these structures pile-buildings (Keltische Pfahlbauten), but they are more commonly known in this country as Lake-Dwellings (habitations lacustres). The discovery at Zürich was almost immediately followed by the discovery of similar structures in the other Swiss lakes. Owing to the vast system of drainage carried on since, there has been a great increase to their number, so that, at the present time, it is well ascertained that there was scarcely a sheltered bay in any of the lakes of Switzerland and neighbouring countries but contained a lake village. The most common plan adopted by the constructors of these ancient dwellings was to drive numerous piles of wood, sharpened sometimes by fire, sometimes by stone celts, or, in later times, by metal tools, into the mud near the shore of a lake; cross-beams were then laid over the tops of these piles, and fastened to them either by mortises or pins of wood, so as to form a platform. In certain cases the interstices between the upright piles were filled with large stones, so as to keep them firmer.