The Lake Dwellings of Ireland: Or ancient lacustrine habitations of Erin, commonly called crannogs.Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory)
History
The Lake Dwellings of Ireland: Or ancient lacustrine habitations of Erin, commonly called crannogs.
Wood-Martin, W. G. (William Gregory)
Lake-dwellers and lake-dwellings -- Ireland
In 1867, the remains of a dwelling brought to light in the townland
of Cargaghoge, near Carrickmacross, county Monaghan, is thus
described:--[58] A man engaged in cutting turf, having uncovered the
ends of three planks of oak, the circumstance, when reported to Mr.
G. Morant, induced him to have the superincumbent bog carefully dug
away, and after some hours’ work the floor of a house became exposed
to view; as the explorers approached its level, they were particularly
careful to examine the layers next to it, in the hope of discovering
some relics of its inhabitants; but, beyond ashes, nutshells (both in
considerable quantities), some pieces of very rude pottery, and a few
small worked flints, nothing was found. The floor, as may be seen by
the accompanying engraving, is approached by a narrow causeway of black
oak planks, similar to those of the floor itself, very rudely formed,
of unequal size, and laid loosely, without any apparent fastening,
except by occasional posts, as marked on the sketch. At the end of the
causeway nearest to the floor are the remains of posts, which probably
formed the entrance to the house, and at one side is a large tree stump
of some soft wood resembling sallow. The timbers of both causeway and
floor have evidently been fitted to the boll of the tree, proving that
it must have existed before either the causeway or floor was laid. The
latter sloped at a considerable angle to the south-west, owing to the
withdrawal of the water from a small lake not far from the site of
this ancient floor; the bog in former days was at least fourteen feet
deep over it. In the memory of persons still living, this portion of
Cargaghoge was entirely covered with water. About the centre of the
floor was a collection of stone slabs, closely fitted together, with a
substratum of blue clay, but all laid on planks of timber forming part
of the floor. On this fireplace there was a quantity of ashes, and on
the edge of the hearth a small corn-crusher of stone. Underneath the
planks, as far as could be observed without disturbing them, a thick
deposit of hazel and birch branches formed a foundation for the support
of the flooring.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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