Loughbrickland Crannóg

File:Loughbrickland Crannog.jpg

Loughbrickland Crannóg.

Loughbrickland Crannóg is a Bronze Age man-made island known as a crannóg, four miles (6.5 km) south west of Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the middle of the lough, 1 mile from the village of Loughbrickland. The crannóg in Loughbrickland is a Scheduled Historic Monument in the townland of Drumnahare, in Banbridge District, at grid reference J1113 4118. It is easily visible from the south-bound carriageway of the trunk A1 Belfast-Dublin route, just past the B3 Rathfriland exit.

Features

Loughbrickland Crannóg, set in the middle of the lake, was surrounded by a row of stakes and partly built up of occupation debris.

History

The crannóg is a man-made island dating from around the Late Bronze Age period (from approx. 2000 to 500 BC). It was later, in the 17th century, inhabited by the Magennis family, who had vacated a castle that is thought to have been located on the lake shore. It was the site of a 1642 skirmish in the Irish Rebellion when it was used as a hiding place by rebels.

The Loughbrickland Community Association adopted an image of the crannóg as its logo and this appears on waymarks and signs along the Loughbrickland Historic Trail.