Derragh Lough Crannóg

Derragh Lough Crannógs are man-made circular islands and have a variety of dates and uses. They are found in shallow lakes and bogs and occasionally in turloughs (lakes fed by ground water sources), and rivers.

There are over 1,200 known in Ireland with most dating to the Early Medieval period. They were generally used as dwelling spaces containing one or two, post-and-wattle or timber houses.

The crannóg on Derragh Lough appears as a small, oval tree-covered island surrounded by a reed bed. The crannóg would have originally been surrounded by a timber palisade fence.

A small stone elevation has been identified in the north-east part of the island, which occurs at a number of other crannógs. This may represent the remains of a house dating to the end of the Early Medieval period or later.

Long, radial timbers, dating to c.1000AD, project out from underneath these stones. In recent years two iron knives but were found at Derragh Lough and are housed in the National Museum of Ireland.

Nearby, but inaccessible to the public, is the Lough Kinale Mesolithic site. It has the remains of a a number of ancient monuments including a platform crannóg dating back about 7000 years.

The crannóg is private property.

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