Crannóg from Drumclay

The Crannóg of Drumclay ( Irish Crannóg Dhroim Cléithe ; also called Cherrymount Crannóg ) is a crannóg in a former small lake not far from Lough Erne near Enniskillen in County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland . It appears to have been in use for more than 1000 years, from the 6th century or earlier to the 17th century.

Dig

The Crannóg was excavated by Nora Bermingham since 2011 because it lay in the route of the Cherrymount-Link-Bypass and later disappeared under asphalt. It is one of the largest and most important sites of its kind that has been investigated for more than 100 years.

The remains of around 30 houses have been uncovered in the three meter thick layers. The excavation has uncovered nearly 4,000 artifacts. The handsome ones include a wooden bowl with a Latin cross, some exquisite combs (Northern European style) made of antlers and bones, leather shoes, bone knives and needles , game stones , and the largest ceramic collection ever found in a Northern Irish Crannóg. The recovered artifacts, including parts of dugout canoes , date back to AD 900.

An interesting find was a 15th or 16th century skeleton. The remains belong to a young woman who may have come to an untimely end as the skull was damaged and she was not buried in a cemetery. Archaeologists believe that members of a noble family lived there from 600 to 1600 AD and lived in the house with maybe four or five outbuildings as an extended family with servants.

swell

• Robert M. Chapple: Cherrymount crannog, Fermanagh. In: Archeology Ireland, Volume 26, No. 3, 2012, pp. 10-12.

Web links

• Excavation report from the Crannóg
• Crannóg on historical Ordnance Survey Ireland map

Coordinates: 54 ° 21 ′ 19.7 ″  N , 7 ° 37 ′ 10.9 ″  W.