What is recorded here

Canon Island still holds a triangle of hazel or alder stakes set in eroding mud, dated to the fifteenth or sixteenth century. They stand a hundred metres from the abbey ruins, small enough to be overlooked yet deliberate enough to reveal that people still read the Fergus Estuary as a living trap. The sea has taken most of the evidence, but it left behind a wooden knot, waiting for hands clever enough to imagine the net that once danced around it.

On the E side of Canon Island in the Fergus Estuary. Described by O’Sullivan et al. (2010) as follows: ‘A fish weir consisting of three stakes and a small boulder is located on the eroding mud on the eastern shore of Canon Island, c. 100m from the ruins of Canon Island Abbey. The three wooden stakes are in close proximity to each other and form a triangle, which sides were c. 0.5m in length. The stakes are 0.4m in height. The boulder lies 6m to the north of the stakes. This weir was probably used in conjunction with a net. A sample was taken from one of the stakes. It was identified as hazel or alder wood and gave a date of Cal. AD 1453-1524 and 1558-1631 (364+/-23BP).’ (O’Sullivan et al. 2010, Appendix 1, 57-8, Canon Island 4) Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 9 October 2019

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.