beaters and weaver’s swords) is surprisingly com-
mon. It, too, may have been a relatively common
domestic craft until the later Middle Ages, when spe-
cialist weavers undoubtedly operated in many towns
and imported cloth was more readily available. Processes
for finishing textiles, such as fulling and dyeing, tend
to leave less physical evidence, and their organization
is still very imperfectly understood. Excavations at
an ecclesiastical settlement on the remote island of
Inishkea North, County Mayo, however, revealed
what appears to have been an early medieval work-
shop producing dyes from locally collected dog
whelk molluscs.
Crafts in Imported Materials
Amber and jet or lignite (used for beads, pendants,
bracelets, and other ornaments) do not occur naturally
in Ireland. Because Irish amber is clearly imported,
probably from the Baltic (although small amounts occur
along the east coast of Britain), one might assume that
such ornaments were imported in a finished state. There
is evidence for amber-working, however, in Dublin at
least, including a tenth-century property plot at Fisham-
ble Street where amber-working clearly continued for
generations. Similarly, there is evidence for working of
walrus ivory, another imported material. Glass- and
enamel-working was largely an adjunct of decorative
metalworking and may have been mainly carried out by
metalworkers. The main items not related to metalwork
were glass beads and bracelets, many of which were
undoubtedly produced in Ireland, but the organization
of the craft is poorly understood. Whether glass vessels
or window glass were ever manufactured in medieval
Ireland remains uncertain.
ANDY HALPIN
References and Further Reading
Dunlevy, M. “A classification of early Irish combs.” Proceed-
ings of the Royal Irish Academy88C (1988): 341–422.
Edwards, Nancy. The Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland,
chap. 5. London: Batsford, 1990.
Halpin, A. The Port of Medieval Dublin. Dublin: Four Courts
Press, 2000.
Hencken, H. O'Neill. “Lagore Crannog: An Irish Royal Resi-
dence of the Seventh to Tenth Century A.D.” Proceedings of
the Royal Irish Academy53C (1950): 1–248.
Hurley, M. F., O. M. B. Scully, and S. W. J. McCutcheon, eds.
Late Viking Age and Medieval Waterford: Excavations
1986–1992. Waterford: Waterford Corporation, 1997.
Lang, J. T. Viking-Age Decorated Wood: A Study of Its Ornament
and Style. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy (National Museum
of Ireland Medieval Dublin Excavations 1962– 1981, Ser. B,
vol. 1), 1988.
Lucas, A. T. “Footwear in Ireland.” Journal of the County Louth
Archaeological Society13 (1956): 309–394.
McCutcheon, C. “Medieval Pottery in Dublin: New Names and
Some Dates.” In Medieval Dublin I, edited by S. Duffy,
117–125. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2000.
McGrail, S. Medieval Boat and Ship Timbers from Dublin.Dublin:
Royal Irish Academy (National Museum of Ireland Medieval
Dublin Excavations 1962–1981, Ser. B, vol. 3), 1993.
Ó Ríordáin, A. B. “The High Street Excavations.” In Proceed-
ings of the Seventh Viking Congress, Dublin 1973, edited by
B. Almqvist and D. Greene, 135–140. Dublin: Royal Irish
Academy/Viking Society for Northern Research, 1976.
Wallace, P. F. “Carpentry in Ireland A.D. 900–1300—The Wood
Quay Evidence.” InWoodworking Techniques Before A.D.
1500 , edited by S. McGrail, 263–299. Oxford: British
Archaeological Reports, 1982.
See alsoCrannóga/Crannogs; Dublin;
Ecclesiastical Sites; Fraternities and Guilds;
Houses; Jewelry and Personal Ornament;
Metalwork; Mills and Milling; Ringforts; Ships
and Shipping; Trade; WaterfordCRANNÓGA/CRANNOGS
In the Middle Ages, people built and lived on small
artificial islands in lakes, constructed of stone, earth,
and timber. In the early medieval period, these islands
were often referred to in saints’ Lives, annals, and sagas
using the words inisoroileán, perhaps signifying that
people made little distinction between such places and
natural islets. By the mid-thirteenth century, the word
crannóg—the word used today—began to be used in
the annals. Scholars have typically defined crannogs as
islands built of stone, earth, timber, and organic mate-
rials, usually circular or oval in plan and enclosed within
a surrounding palisade of planks, posts, or stone walls.
However, a broader definition would include those cran-
nogs without palisades, as well as other deliberately
enhanced natural islands, rocky outcrops, and mounds
and rock platforms along lakeshore edges.History of Research
Since the nineteenth century, crannogs have been the
focus of much antiquarian and archaeological investi-
gation in Ireland and Scotland. In Ireland, these include
the pioneering crannog surveys of W. F. Wakeman in
the northwest in the 1870s. In 1886, W. G. Wood-Martin
published his significant and influential synthesis, The
Lake Dwellings of Ireland. In the 1930s and 1940s, there
were important archaeological crannog excavations by
the Harvard Archaeological Expedition at Ballinderry
No. 1 (Co. Westmeath), Ballinderry No. 2 (Co. Offaly),
and at Lagore (Co. Meath). In recent decades, regional
and local surveys by the Archaeological Survey of
Ireland in the Republic, by the Environment and Heritage
Service in Northern Ireland, and by other scholars have
revealed a diversity of size, morphology, siting, and
location. Recent archaeological excavations, particularlyCRAFTWORK