427 



proved by the old knife, ITo. 60. The sharp points on the stakes would 

 lead to the same conclusion ; also the number of hones which must have - 

 been used for the sharpening of metal implements. The cuts on the pieces 

 of deer's horn, I»[os. 16 and 36, must have been made by a very fine 

 saw, as there are no marks of graining on the surfaces. Secondly- — 

 That when the crannoges were first built, tha surface of the lake must 

 have been at least seven feet lower than at present, as is proved by 

 Sections 3 and 5, and by the old turf banks at the south-east of the lake, 

 over which there are five or six feet of water. And that at a subsequent 

 period the west part of the lake inust have been twelve feet deeper than 

 at present ; this is proved by Sections ISTos. 5 and 6, as in them we find 

 six feet of shell marl under the artificial works. The change in the level 

 of the lake must have been caused by the silting up of its outlet. The 

 ancient stream from the lake seems to have been at the west end of the 

 town, as in that place there is an alluvial deposit, while at its present 

 outlet there is strong cor7i gravel ; and a little below its present bed there 

 seems to be rock. If the embouchure of the lake was at the west end, 

 it must have run by the old Abbey to the alluvial flat on the north. 



If we examine a lake that is silting up its outlet, we shall find what 

 a tedious process it is. First, the weeds grow during the summer, and 

 catch the heavy particles that are coming out with the water ; but in 

 the winter floods all the weeds are broken down, and most of the accu- 

 mulated matter is carried away : so that in a century it would scarcely 

 raise the bottom of the stream more than six inches ; which would make 

 the crannoges to have been built about 1400 years before the lake reached 

 its present level. But we must consider that since Loughrea was built the 

 lake could scarcely have changed its level ; for the eastern outlet ran at 

 the foot of the town wall, and the inhabitants would have kept it open, 

 being part of the defences of their town. Loughrea is more than 400 

 years old but if we allow 400 years, it would make the age of the 

 crannoges over 1800 years, or before the Christian era. 



Loughrea is about a mile wide from the 'N. E. to the S. W., and a 

 mile and three quarters long from the l!^". W. to the S. E. It contains 

 about 900 acres, and of these at least 400 have not more than 15 feet in 

 depth of water on them. These 400 acres could be easily drained, as it 

 would be only necessary to open a cut from White's Bridge, that lies a 

 mile on the north, which, according to the Ordnance Survey, is 1 7 feet 

 lower than the lake. 



The Eev. William Eeeves read a paper " On the Bell of Armagh." 



* The castle of Loughrea, or Bailie Miogh, was built in A.D. 1236, by Richard DeBurgo 

 (Hardiman's " History of Galway," from his authority, the " Annals of Inisfallen), and 

 the town with its walls in the succeeding century. Of these, there now (1863) only remain 

 the foundations of the castle, the east foss, and the keep at the S. E. gate, the E. gate 

 having been demolished, by public presentment, about "fifteen years ago, as it was con- 

 sidered an obstruction in the principal street of the town. The town seems to have been 

 built on the margin of the lake, and the present principal outlet from the lake appears to 

 have been made when the town was first built as a foss or dyke at the base of its eastern 

 wall. 



