"I found that the island was in a great measure, if not altogether, artificial. There were large stakes driven into the ground, and completely enclosing the space within, but not rising above the surface, so as to form a palisade, but evidently for the purpose of keeping in the soil from the encroachment of the water. The tradition respecting it is, that there had been a castle on the shore opposite, the chieftain of which caused this island to be made as a place of refuge from the sudden onslaughts of the O'Neills; and to render this retreat more secure he would never allow more than one boat or canoe on the lake. During the drainage of the lake some years ago, a canoe formed out of a solid piece of oak was found near the island." A jug of excellent workmanship was found on this crannog (Fig. 113). (B. 18, p. 224.) [Illustration: =Fig. 113.=--LOUGH FAUGHAN. Earthenware Jug, 13 inches high.] DISCOVERIES BY BOARD OF WORKS. But the greatest discoveries were due to the workings of the Commission for the Arterial Drainage and Inland Navigation of Ireland, which brought no less than twenty-two additional crannogs to light in the counties of Roscommon, Leitrim, Cavan, and Monaghan. Reports of these crannogs by the engineers of the Board of Works, with plans, maps, and sections of the more important (=Figs. 114= and =115=), as well as the relics collected on them, were given to the Royal Irish Academy. Unfortunately these relics are now indiscriminately mixed with other Irish antiquities, and are virtually beyond identification. Mr. Mulvany, Commissioner of Public Works, makes the following remarks on the general features of construction of the crannogs encountered by them during these drainage operations prior to the year 1852:-- [Illustration: =Fig. 114.=--Section of ARDAKILLEN Crannog, near Strokestown.] [Illustration: =Fig. 115.=--Plan of Crannog in DRUMALEAGUE LOUGH. Outer circle 60 feet in diameter.] "1. They are surrounded by stakes, driven generally in a circle from 60 to 80 feet in diameter; but in some cases the inclosure is larger, and of an oval shape, as, for instance, that in Loughtown Lake, which is 120 feet from east to west and 100 feet from north to south; and one of those in Lough Mac Hugh, which measures 118 feet in one direction and 74 feet in another. "2. These outside stakes are generally of oak from 4 to 9 inches in diameter; sometimes driven in a single row, sometimes double, and in some cases, as that of island No. 1 in Drumaleague Lake, the stakes are found in a single row in parts of the island, and in double or treble rows, or clusters, in other parts. The island in Loughtown Lake differs from the others in being surrounded by a mass of stakes upwards of 15 feet wide, and rather inclined towards the centre of the island.