Loughbrickland Crannog

This particular crannóg, is found in Northern Ireland, and is among the ancient Celtic tradition of these great little structures. 

I am happy to say I have been on the road, that passes by the lake or lough that this site sites in. 

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So here is my bullet point list on this site. 

* It is a Bronze Age manmade isle, that is 4 mile to the south west of Banbridge, County Down. As is sensible, if you build a site like this, it is situated in the central area of the water, a mile from a village of in 2021 about 700 people, also known as Loughbrickland. 

* Is can be seen very easily easily from a layby by the small lake, on the south-bound carriageway of the very important trunkroad, the A1 Dublin to Belfast routeway, then just past the B3 Rathfriland exitway. 

* I stopped at this layby, and took this picture, I had a read of the nice information board by here. While cars swooshed past. I have also added my pen and microsoft paint picture of the isle in the lough, from above, yes it is that small in the lough from faraway, with the road aside. Plus and a imagining of the crannog in action. It looks much bigger from the shoreline. I think very few people call it Loughbrickland lake crannog, as the word lough is all that is usually required. Plus Lochbrickland would be miss name.

* The area of Loughbrickland, used to have a cairn sixty foot high, possibly celebrating a battle of the 4th Century, from ancient times, but was destroyed for a 19th Century railway. There is also Loughbrickland ringfort in the area as well. Plus the remains  of Water Hill Fort or Dun Uisce are on a hill to the south of the lough.​

* So the crannog and area though, they sit in the south eastern portion of Ulster, half way between the biggest lough in Ireland, Lough Neagh, and the border between Ulster and Leinster, or the Republic of Ireland.

* It is surely one of the most sighted crannogs in the world, as of being on such a major route.  

* There were crannogs like this into the Iron Age, and Medieval era, with many used across the ages, as a useful site. 

* It were surrounded by many stakes then built up by occupation material.

* The lake or lough covers twenty five hectares. Plus is in the River Bann catchment area. A river that flows north to Lough Neagh, and then to Coleraine. 

* Portions of the Slige Midluachra, one of the 5 great roads of Ancient Ireland ran through Loughbrickland's environ, and parts of the A1 still follow it. This road went from Tara to near Giant's Causeway past Emain Macha. Apparently the wonderful site of Dunseverick Castle where it stopped on the Atlantic Ocean, which was as important as most other Irish hillforts there. Also near there, was Dunluce, which became a castle, which beforehand was a Irish hillfort. 

* Back to the crannog. In the seventeenth century a family by the name of Magennis held it. Fascinatingly this site was a scene of a armed skirmish in 1642, in the Irish Rebellion, with it used as a holdout by some of the mostly Catholic rebels. So ends my article on Loughbrickland crannog, Ireland, Northern Ireland specifically.