Crannoge — Lough Arrow

In Lough Arrow, c. 200m E of the Annaghloy peninsula, unusually located almost in open water. Indicated as a small oval islet on the 1914 OS 6-inch map. A roughly oval high-cairn crannog (15.8m N-S; 28.9m E-W; H 2m above the firm sandy lake-bed) with a mid-cairn of loosely packed angular and subangular stones (4.6m N-S; 4.9m E-W) off-centre to W. The edge of the mid-cairn drops distinctly down 0.6m to NW to the surrounding berm. To the E and S, the mid-cairn drops down gradually to a surrounding plateau. In the centre of the mid-cairn is a post to warn boat-users of its presence. It is surrounded on the E and S sides by a plateau of loosely packed stones, the surface of which is uneven and unstable. Animal bones were found among these stones during the site inspection. The berm is quite large and surrounds the whole site. It lies at an average depth of 0.4-0.5m and is narrower to the N (Wth 5m) and S (Wth 1.9m) than to the E (Wth 10.5m) and W (Wth 7.2m) and consists of loosely packed angular stones (diam. 0.3-0.4m). However, there are a number of larger flagstones on the S side of the site. The edges, which consist of stones, were investigated by probing from the surface and they seem to drop down quite dramatically from a depth of 0.5m to 1.4m. As this site has both an unusual location and shape it is classified as a possible crannog. It is mentioned by Wood-Martin (1886, 246) as being man-made. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005). Date of upload: 18 January 2008