Crannog, Killavally, Co. Mayo
Co. Mayo |
Settlement Sites
In the landscape around Killavally in County Mayo, a crannog sits recorded but largely unexamined in the public record.
A crannog is an artificial or partially artificial island, typically built out into a lake or wetland, and used as a dwelling place across a long stretch of Irish prehistory and early history, from the Bronze Age well into the medieval period. They were practical constructions, their watery surrounds offering a measure of natural defence, and they are found in considerable numbers across the Irish midlands and west.
The Killavally example is noted as a monument, but detailed information about it has not yet been made available. What that means in practice is that its date, its construction, any excavation history, and its current condition remain outside what can be responsibly described here. Mayo has a strong tradition of crannog use, and the county's many lakes and boggy lowlands made it well suited to this kind of settlement. Without more specific information, however, the Killavally site remains something of a gap in the accessible record, a place that exists in the archaeological register but whose story has not yet been fully told in any publicly available form.