The historic references made to the Irish Crannogs are numerous, and extend over a long period, from the middle of the eighth down to the seventeenth century; but notwithstanding these, it was not till the year 1839 that their archæological importance became known. In this year Sir W. R. Wilde discovered and examined the crannog of Lagore, in the county of Meath, of which he has published an account in the first volume of the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. After this other crannogs were discovered in rapid succession, and it became apparent that they existed very generally over the country. When Sir W. R. Wilde published his Catalogue of the Museum (Royal Irish Academy), in 1857, he states that no less than forty-six were known, and predicts that many others would be exposed to view as the drainage of the country advanced--a prediction which has been amply verified, because every succeeding year has seen an increase to their number. According to this writer, crannogs "were not strictly speaking artificial islands, but cluans, small islets, or shallows of clay or marl, in those lakes which were probably dry in summer-time, but submerged in winter. These were enlarged and fortified by piles of oaken timber, and in some cases by stone-work. A few were approached by moles or causeways, but, generally speaking, they were completely insulated and only accessible by boat; and it is notable that in almost every instance an ancient canoe was discovered in connection with the crannoge. Being thus insulated, they afforded secure places of retreat from the attacks of enemies, or were the fastnesses of predatory chiefs or robbers, to which might be conveyed the booty of a marauding excursion, or the product of a cattle raid." A more recent explorer and writer on Irish crannogs, Mr. W. F. Wakeman, in a paper entitled "Observations on the principal Crannogs of Fermanagh," published in 1873,[2] goes on to say, after noticing their existence in eighteen different places in this county, and numbering no less than twenty-nine, "This glance is far from complete in its enumeration of the 'Lake Dwellings' still remaining in this old territory, but it gives, I think, the principal examples.... The Irish crannog, great or small, was simply an island, either altogether or in part artificial, strongly staked with piles of oak, pine, yew, alder, or other timber, encompassed by rows of palisading (the bases of which now usually remain), behind which the occupiers of the hold might defend themselves with advantage against assailants. Within the enclosure were usually one or more log-houses, which no doubt afforded shelter to the dwellers during the night-time, or whenever the state of the weather necessitated a retreat under cover."