A new site of archaeological importance was discovered at An Liopa Thoir, east of An Spidéal when a local man was out walking after the recent Storm Brendan.
Archaeologist Michael Gibbons told RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta this week that the site is of great importance, and that he believes that it is a crannóg, although that has yet to be confirmed.
Local man Jimmy Ó Céide discovered the site while out walking after Storm Brendan.
Archaeologist Michael Gibbons said that there are very few sites like this in the country, and that there was evidence that people had lived in this coastal area since 7000 BC.
“This is a very important site. It amazes me that a site of such interest is here, not far at all from the other one further west in An Liopa. They are not common in this part of the country, or indeed anywhere in Ireland.”
“If you look around here, initially, there’s nothing to see but if you look more closely you see the wood ... this wood here, likely a floor... this may well be a crannóg.
“It’s much wider than a bog road ... sometimes you find a bog road like this in the middle of the county, around Ballinasloe ... it may be a bog road, but I think it’s more likely to be a dwelling place.”
Mr Gibbons said that an archaeological site found in the last few years near Enniskillen had wood just like the one just, and that that would lead him to believe that it was a dwelling place.
“There may have been a lake here in the Bronze Age .... There are crannóga around here, further west, so people lived here. This looks like it’s a floor here ... We need to excavate and examine it further,” he added.
Michael Gibbons has written to the National Monuments Service, and their specialist Underwater Unit will be coming to the site in the coming weeks to do an official examination.
