xlvu 
and which is precisely the same as one of the coins above men- 
tioned. 
“Tf the coins be, as 1 presume, of the reign of Edward I., it 
would lead to the conclusion, that the islands were in use at the 
close of the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth century. 
The finding of a stray coin or two furnishes, certainly, but slender 
grounds for arriving at a conclusion in a matter of this sort ; yet 
there are circumstances connected with the history of the particular 
period to which these coins refer us, which seem to render it not at 
all improbable that these inclosed islands were constructed as places 
of shelter, defence, and refuge. 
‘“* There can be no doubt that, about the year 1330, when Donald 
-O’Neil, King of Ulster, wrote to Pope John XXII, as to the suf- 
ferings of the Irish, the lands round the lakes where these islands 
have been found, as well as the greater portion of the adjacent 
country, were covered with wood, while many of the lakes them- 
selves were little better than piathes And supposing the natives 
to have been driven to those woods and marshes for refuge, it is 
very natural that they should form encampments of the nature of 
these inclosed islands, to protect themselves from their enemies. 
The woods also furnished them, probably, with abundance of deer, 
hogs, and other animals, which served them for food, and the bones 
of which are found in such quantities about these islands; and the 
querns would, of course, be in requisition for grinding any corn 
they could convey to the islands. 
‘**In those cases where the islands are found at a considerable 
distance from the shore of the lake, and surrounded by deep water, 
the means of communication with the shore must have been by a 
raft or boat. In Drumaleague Lake a canoe was found (of which 
a drawing is given, No. 4), imbedded in the mud on the shore 
opposite one of the islands, and about as deep below the level of 
the surface of the lake as the island itself. It was eighteen feet 
long, cut out of a solid oak tree, and was in tolerable preservation 
when found, but fell to pieces after being some time exposed to the 
air. In other cases, where the islands are in shallow-water, and 
near the verge of the lake, the communication may have been by 
means of a gangway of timber, a portion of which may have been 
moveable at the pleasure of the people within the inclosure. 
“The islands in Loughtowh Lake, Drumaleague Lough, and 
Lough Scur, were examined by Mr. Leonard; and that in Lees- 
d 
