Crannogs–artificial island dwellings

Sorry I missed posting yesterday. I was in the middle of revisions and when the writing is cooking, you don’t stop.

Okay, today I’ll share more information about Craggaunowen and the crannog. The crannog is a man-made island, and they’ve been around since the Bronze Age. Usually only a few families would dwell on a crannog, because there isn’t space for more than 2-3 huts. Here is a view from the mainland. There’s a little bit of land by the boat and then the water is just out of view. Here’s another photo. You get a better sense of the water here. The exterior of the island is surrounded by a wooden palisade, usually made of interwoven sticks/reeds. At the entrance, there was a gate house made of wood where people could keep guard. The reenactors had spears as weapons.

The houses I visited on this crannog were wattle and daub exteriors, which is basically a mixture of wicker and mud. The walls of a hut are made similar to the palisade, with interwoven sticks, covered with mud to insulate the hut. The doors were really interesting. Here’s a photo of one:

I was surprised to see that there wasn’t a smoke hole at the top inside the hut. I learned that if they had an indoor fire, they would keep the door and window open to ventilate the smoke. But more often, they would heat the hut using hot stones. Stones would be left in an outdoor fire until they were extremely hot, then rolled using tongs, into the hut. Basically, it’s a radiator effect. In winter, they might seal off the windows with stretched hides that were nearly translucent. In this next photo, you can see a view of the interior. Logs were used for seating, and the interior was all dirt. Very cozy, but there wasn’t much light.

Crannog dwellings were great for keeping animals such as wild boar out, but they were mostly for families. The men would marry and their wives and children would be there. Daughters would typically marry to another tribe and leave their homes.

Hope I’m not boring anyone with all the history. My next book is actually set in a hut like these, and it’s very intimate. I had a lot of fun with it, and I think there’s something to be said for variety in a setting. Castles with lords and ladies are great, but I wanted to explore something a little different. Although my new book In Your Eyes is not set upon a crannog, the hut is very much like this one. The heroine is a healer, and the hero is a handsome warrior from her past.