THE LAKE DWELLINGS OF IRELAND. [Illustration: _Frontispiece._ IRISH LAKE DWELLING OF THE ISOLATED TYPE. _Ideally restored from inspection of numerous sites._] THE LAKE DWELLINGS OF IRELAND: OR ANCIENT LACUSTRINE HABITATIONS OF ERIN, _COMMONLY CALLED CRANNOGS_. BY W. G. WOOD-MARTIN, M.R.I.A., F.R.H.A.A.I., LIEUT.-COLONEL 8TH BRIGADE NORTH IRISH DIVISION, R.A.; _Author of “Sligo and the Enniskilleners”; “History of Sligo, from the Earliest Ages to the close of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth.”_ “There, driving many an oaken stake Into the shallow, skilful hands A steadfast island-dwelling make, Seen from the hill-tops like a fleet Of wattled houses.…” “The footprints of an elder race are here, And memories of an heroic time, And shadows of the old mysterious faith.” _DUBLIN_: HODGES, FIGGIS & CO., GRAFTON STREET. PUBLISHERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. _LONDON_: LONGMANS, GREEN & CO., PATERNOSTER ROW. 1886. _ALL RIGHTS RESERVED._ DUBLIN: PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. [Illustration] PREFACE. The object the writer has in view in this Publication is to place on record the remarkable discoveries made in a department of Archæology hitherto almost unnoticed in Ireland, except in the Proceedings, Catalogues, and Journals of various learned Societies. So far back as 1861 a writer remarked that such a work would be “a real boon to archæology,” yet in the interval none has appeared. The cause is not far to seek. A publication treating of the habits and social economy of long-forgotten generations is little calculated to gain a rapid foothold with the general public, by whom the study of the past may probably be considered dull as well as useless reading. To many, however, it proves most interesting to observe--despite widest variations of climatic conditions--the great similarity of the ways and habits of man while in a rude uncultivated state--acting as it were by a common instinct--and again to trace his upward progress towards civilization. A wide tract in this field of archæological research is fortunately opened up by a comparison of the Irish Lake Dwellings and their “finds” with those of other countries, more especially with the discoveries brought into such prominent notice by Keller in Switzerland, and Munro in Scotland.