County: Longford Site name: BALLYWILLIN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E1070
Author: Christina Fredengren, The Discovery Programme
Site type: Crannóg
Period/Dating: Early Medieval (AD 400-AD 1099)
ITM: E 637241m, N 782334m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.789240, -7.434836
The crannog in Ballywillin (SMR 11:52) is the largest in the Lough Kinale area, well above Lagore in size. A chalice was retrieved from this site (Ryan 1990). A detailed geomatic survey of the site identified a number of morphological features, including at least one row of posts on the shoreline side of the site. Samples of this feature were taken during a minor excavation. Dúchas carried out diving in areas at the edges of and surrounding the site. The aim was to find underwater structures to sample for dating. Further diving took place to obtain samples for radiocarbon and dendrochronological dating. There are indications that the site was used in the middle/later part of the early medieval period. Furthermore, a sediment core was taken on the northern side of the site for environmental analysis (Fredengren 2002).
References
Fredengren, C. 2002 Discovery Programme in Lough Kinale. Archaeology Ireland 16 (4), 20–3.
Ryan, M. 1990 The formal relationship of Insular early medieval Eucharistic chalices. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 90C, 281–356.
34 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2
