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IX. 



THE EXCAVATION OF LOCHPAIEC CRANNOG, NEAR TUAM. 



By R A. S. MACALISTER E. C. R. ARMSTRONG, and 

 R, LLOYD PRAEGER, 



Plates XVI, XVII. 



Head November 29, 1913. Published January 24, 1914. 



The townland of Lochpairc is situated about a mile and a half north-east 

 of Tuam, on the south side of the road which, after skirting the north wall 

 of the Birmingham estate, turns abruptly on reaching Loch Levally, and 

 runs on to Dunmore (Galway six-inch map, Nos. 29 and 30). The exact 

 situation of the crannog here described may be defined by reference to the 

 six-inch map, as lying one inch south of the letter A in "Loughpark." 



Our attention was drawn to this structure by Dr. T. B. Costello, m.r.i.a., 

 of Tuam, who had himself obtained some antiquities from it, as described 

 below. We have to express our deep obligations to him for the trouble 

 he took in making our share of the work as easy as possible, by conducting 

 the necessary preliminary arrangements with the local proprietors, and 

 by selecting and engaging workmen. To the kind hospitality of him and 

 of Mrs. Costello our sincere thanks are due. 



The crannog, as we found it, was an insignificant circular mound, shaped 

 like an inverted saucer, with a shallow ditch around it. It was so incon- 

 spicuous that most wayfarers would pass it by unnoticed ; and it is one 

 of the numerous ancient monuments that are ignored on the Ordnance 

 map. 



With regard to its structure and dimensions, there is little to tell. 

 The ditch is so exactly circular that some artificial means must have been 

 adopted in laying it out — most probably the use of a rope as a radius tied 

 to a post in the middle. It may be remembered that we have already noticed 

 the same characteristic — the mathematical circularity of a structure — in 

 our account of our excavation at Longstone Rath. The mound is slightly 

 irregular ; but it is still approximately circular, and the deviations from that 

 shape which it now presents may possibly be due to the trampling of cattle 

 and other destructive causes. 



E.I.A. SROC, VOL. XXXII, SECT. 0. L^tt] 



