Fig. 3.—Stone Lake Dwelling in Lough Bola.
Theory of Crannogs being only Temporary Refuges.—The opinion has been frequently advanced that crannogs were merely refuges used in case of hostile incursion—not a general or habitual residence; and if a rath chance to be in the immediate vicinity, it is pointed out as the abode of the chief on shore. The great mass of bones, however, and remains of household gear, found upon and around some of the sites, point conclusively to their having been places of residence for long and various periods, and many of them bear signs which denote their having been often demolished, burnt, and rebuilt, the Celt clinging to his watery home with as much pertinacity as in latter days he clings to his cottage on terra firma. Keller was of opinion that the great distinction between the continental pile dwellings (pfahlbauten), and the crannogs of Ireland and kindred lake dwellings of Scotland, is that the latter served merely as places of refuge for chieftains, their families, and property, i. e. strongholds belonging to individuals, whilst the Swiss lacustrine dwellings were inhabited century after century by groups of families; here they fabricated their pottery, their utensils, their wearing apparel, their fishing implements, their weapons of warfare; and hence in Swiss waters rows of huts are found, each furnished with its hearth and its weaving loom. Although Irish and Scottish lacustrine dwellings may have been the abode of chiefs, yet the clan clustered around them, for in many Irish lakes a large crannog is observable, whilst in close proximity—sometimes connected with it—are others of smaller size and meaner construction; might we not fairly surmise that the larger one was the abode of the chief, the others those of his followers? The theory that these dwellings were places of merely temporary refuge can be refuted on many grounds. The evidences of repeated renovations and re-erection of crannogs after having been burnt,[52] also the traces of cattle, which appear to have been kept in them, the enormous quantity of bones contained in the kitchen middens, the hearths, the remains of fire, of cooking utensils, of spindle whorls, of household gear, the domestic arrangements made in each hut for the accommodation of a family, the various articles for personal adornment and for amusement, all tend to denote continuous occupancy; finally, we must bear in mind the enormous expenditure of time and labour that would be required for erection of what was, on such a theory, to serve only as a place of temporary shelter.
Palisades and Dwellings.—Palisaded fortifications are unquestionably very primitive. Around the cyclopean wall of Dun Ængus and other prehistoric forts in the Isles of Arran, county Galway, are found palisades, or chevaux-de-frise, of sharp-pointed stones, and such defences have in all ages proved effective under skilful management. Even in the present advanced state of military science, the various wars in New Zealand have demonstrated the formidable nature of the Maori pah or fort. The outer range of piles around crannogs rose considerably above the water, and thus formed a stockade or breastwork for repelling an attack from enemies. The Lord Deputy Sidney, describing to Elizabeth a repulse of her troops from one of these retreats, says that at a distance it did not appear formidable, as it was simply encircled with a stout palisade bristling with rows of sharpened stakes; but when assaulted, the soldiers found it impossible either to scale or undermine it. This style of defensive work was of ancient origin in Ireland, for the Annals state that, in the year 990, the island as well as “the dreach and rampart of Lough Cimbe” (now Lough Hackett, county Galway) were swept away by a violent storm.
Within the area enclosed stood the hut or huts in which the families lived; the stockade served equally for shelter and defence, fulfilling the same purpose as did the circumvallation of the rath or doon on terra firma. Edifices constructed of logs, of wattling, and hurdles daubed over with clay, and thatched with reeds, were in early times considered characteristic of the Irish; even public buildings were constructed of these materials. Bede states that an Irish monk, who had been elected Bishop of Lindisfarn, built a church for his see “altogether of sawn oak, and covered it with reeds, after the manner of the Scots” (i. e. the Irish). We need not, however, refer to history, or depend upon conjecture, in order to reconstruct these island dwellings; for the foundations, and even some of the log walls, have been exposed to view. Good examples are presented by the flooring of an oblong house at Drumaleague, county Leitrim, and at Cargaghoge, county Monaghan; remains of a wooden hut at Kilnock, county Antrim; and the following in county Fermanagh—mortised beams at Loughavilly, a house at Gortalough, angle posts at “The Miracles,” and lower framework of a house at Ballydoolough. At Kilnamaddo, in the same county, log huts were found buried under seventeen feet of peat; these were practically almost perfect, wanting nothing save the roof; they were very low, the side walls scarcely four feet in height, and they might be looked upon rather as lairs for sleeping in, than dwellings in the modern sense of the word; indeed, the primitive races of Ireland, whether building in stone or wood, made use of low roofs and consequently low doors. The openings left for egress and ingress were probably closed by hurdles of wicker-work, as demonstrated by the old Irish proverb, Fuair se air suibhal eadar cliath a’s ursainn (he got off ’twixt hurdle and door-post), equivalent to the saying, “he escaped by the skin of his teeth.”
A considerable portion of the townland of Kilnamaddo (the wood of the dog) had apparently, in olden times, formed the basin of a sheet of water, and upon one of its shoals some primitive tribe had erected a habitation. The piling can still be traced, but the chief antiquarian interest attached to the discovery consisted in the remains of the huts already referred to, and which were constructed of oak beams. They were two in number, stood about fifty feet apart, and somewhat resembled the hut exposed to view by Captain Mudge in Donegal, but differed from it in not being divided into an upper and lower story. The Kilnamaddo huts were quadrangular, and the larger and more perfect specimen measured on the outside eleven feet six inches by ten feet. To make the structure, four massive posts of oak, averaging seven feet in length and seven feet in circumference, were set in the ground. These timbers, near their upper ends, have mortised holes averaging eleven inches in height by eight and a-half in breadth, through which passed the ends of beams to which slabs of oak were attached, and the floor was also composed of oaken planks. The roof, as well as a great portion of the sides, did not remain in situ at the time of the discovery, but a number of timbers found immediately adjoining each of the structures were admirably suited for the purpose of forming side walls and roofing. The lower frame of the work appears to have been very similar to that upon which the roof had rested. In the lower portions of the four upright posts were very curious mortise holes, evidently intended for the reception of beam ends. The sides of this edifice were retained in position and pressed to the frame below by a row of small, well-sharpened piles; no sign of pinning or grooving in the upper portion of the frame could be discovered, therefore the conclusion may be drawn that the huts were originally built within an excavation, the peat was then heaped against the sides, probably even over the roof, and a small passage left as an entrance. In short, it was a structure of wood, but otherwise analogous to the stone-lined chambers and passages so generally found in raths. Almost in the immediate neighbourhood, may still be observed a subterraneous work of uncemented stones, styled “St. Lasser’s Cell.” In it are three very small, low-roofed chambers, connected by passages equally low; but there is no reason to suppose they had communication with any other structure, and, although named after a “saint,” they rather convey the impression of pre-Christian origin. Unlike the remains of most crannogs, that of Kilnamaddo presented no indication of having been destroyed by fire; had such been the case, the posts would have shown undoubted signs of charring. Evident traces of a kitchen midden were discovered in the bog close to the hut, but at a level slightly above it. The height of the interior of the most perfect of the huts, without making any allowance for a sloping roof, being only four feet, they would thus correspond to the souterrains of a rath. It has been suggested that they were used by the crannog occupants only for the preservation of perishable commodities; and in seeming corroboration of this theory, large lumps of the substance called “bog-butter” were discovered in them carefully rolled up in cowhide.
It is difficult to arrive at even an approximate estimate of the age of these curious structures: the mortise-holes, pierced clean through timbers more than seven feet in circumference, could hardly have been formed by the aid of stone hatchets or chisels: several of the piles and other portions of the work show traces of long, clean cuts, such as are given by sharp metallic tools; yet the only implements found here were of stone, and by the aid of such it is possible that some of the timbers were more or less worked. The roots and part of the trunk of a yew were found in situ in the bog, on a higher level than the roof of the more perfect hut. It has been computed, from the girth of this yew, that it would take at least one thousand years to attain the bulk it showed when first laid bare, and the eleven feet of bog by which it was covered would take at least another thousand years to grow.[53]
Plate I.