In 1889, historian Kinahan identified a small island here as a possible ‘stone crannog’, though the site hasn’t been formally inspected in recent times. Crannogs were artificial islands built in lakes and wetlands across Ireland and Scotland, typically constructed from timber, stone, and earth, and used as defended homesteads from the Bronze Age through to the medieval period.

This particular site remains something of an enigma; whilst most crannogs were built primarily from wood and organic materials, stone crannogs represent a more unusual variant of these ancient dwellings. They were often constructed in areas where timber was scarce or where builders sought more permanent structures. The islands served multiple purposes: as defensive settlements safe from raids, status symbols for local elites, and centres for crafts like metalworking.

The reference to this site comes from the Archaeological Survey of County Donegal, a comprehensive catalogue compiled by Brian Lacey and his team in 1983 that documents the county’s field antiquities from the Mesolithic period through to the 17th century. Without proper excavation, the true nature and date of this possible crannog remain uncertain, leaving it as one of many unexamined archaeological sites dotting the Irish landscape, waiting to reveal its secrets about how our ancestors lived and adapted to their watery environments.