2017:362 - A6, Dungiven to Drumahoe Dualling Site 5 - Lough Lohan, Derry

Detailed excavation was required within this area due to the proximity Lough Lohan crannog (LDY 023:016). The crannog was recorded on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map of the area as a roughly circular feature cut by a field boundary. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs record the site as a “circular island 60yds diam. surrounded by a ring or trench of water 20yds wide… An oak platform to east served as an entrance” (Day and McWilliams 1995). Site 5 was located immediately north of the crannog. Part of the area had previously been occupied by a shop/garage, which had been demolished in advance of the new road works; the area examined was, however, mostly covered by hardcore and gravel overlying buried peat.

An area c.1240 sq.m was mechanically stripped under archaeological supervision. The only potential feature was a charcoal-rich spread, 1.25m long, 1m wide and 0.12m deep, which lay on the surface of the subsoil. This was non-archaeological.

Reference
Day, A. and McWilliams, P. (eds) (1995) Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland – Parishes of Co. Londonderry IX 1832-8: West Londonderry, Belfast: The Institute of Irish Studies, The Queens University of Belfast.