Loch Gabhair

A depiction of the royal crannog at Lagore, c. 10th century
 Most timber or wicker found during excavation was located to the north and east of the crannog, which is where the main buildings have been placed in the illustration. There were hearths directly opposite these, to the south-west, which were most likely associated with some of the manufacturing industry that took place at Lagore. Surrounding the crannog is a strong plank palisade, built using horizontal timbers placed into slots in the upright posts. The entrance was probably to the east as a sunken dugout boat was found here outside the palisade. Plus, on the ground plan of the excavation there looks to be posts which could be from a jetty. The excavation plan of Lagore crannog can be found on record ME038-027 on the National Monuments Service database.

Located on a now dried up lake between Dunshaughlin and Ratoath, the crannog of Loch Gabhair (Lagore) served as the royal residence of the kings of South Brega from the 7th to early 11th centuries.1

Following the Battle of Imlech Pich (Emlagh), Brega split in two,2 with the southern portion being controlled by the Uí Chernaig sept of the Síl nÁedo Sláine. The Uí Chernaig styled themselves ‘Kings of Loch Gabhair’ and competed with the ‘Kings of Cnogba‘ for over-lordship of all Brega. With Lagore being on the hinterland of Dublin, the Uí Chernaig had to not only to contend with the Uí Chonaing, but also with the Vikings. Tigernach mac Fogartha, King of Lagore, led an Irish alliance to victory over the Vikings in AD848 and sacked Dublin AD849 with the help of the High King, Malachy 1st of the Clann Cholmáin.3

In AD850 the Vikings had their revenge; they allied with Cináed mac Conaing of Cnogba (the first report of a Norse-Gael alliance) and laid waste to Mide as far as the Shannon. Cináed made sure to burn the royal palace at Lagore and the nearby church at Trevet,4 including the 260 people inside it.5 Cináed, however, didn’t survive much longer, he was captured by Tigernach and the High King the following year, and according to the annals, was ‘drowned in a dirty stream’.6

Lagore would be burned for a second time in AD935. The new leader of Viking Dublin, Olaf Guthfrithsson, set about stamping his authority in Brega and looted the royal sites at both Lagore and Knowth.7 There would have been a large amount of wealth at Lagore at this time as its economy was largely self-sustaining, consisting of shoe and textile production, metal working, glass making and farming.8 The site was excavated in the 1950s and apart from the evidence of economic activity there were also military finds such as swords, spear heads and shield bosses. During the excavation the crannog was also found to have been surrounded by a strong plank palisade. Three different palisades were built in total – each dating from different occupational phases, which were then re-built every time Lagore was attacked and razed.

Lagore was abandoned as a seat of kingship in the early 11th century and towards the end of the medieval period the local ruling kings, the Mac Gilla Sechnaill, appear to have resided in Dunshaughlin.9

References

  1. Aidan O’Sullivan, ‘The social and ideological role of crannogs in Early Medieval Ireland’, PHD thesis, Department of Modern History, NUI Maynooth (March, 2004), p. 178
  2. George Eogan, ‘Early Christian Knowth and the Kingdom of Brega’ in Eolas: The Journal of the American Society of Irish Medieval Studies, Vol. 4 (2010), p. 13
  3. Michelle Comber, ‘Lagore Crannóg and Non-Ferrous Metalworking in Early Historic Ireland’ in The Journal of Irish Archaeology Vol. 8 (1997), pp. 101-114
  4. Annals of Ulster, Year 850.3, Available from UCC at https://celt.ucc.ie (Feb. 14, 2022)
  5. Francis John Byrne, ‘The Viking Age’ in Dáibhí Ó’ Cróinín (ed.) A New History of Ireland: Prehistoric and early Ireland (Oxford, 2005), p. 616
  6. Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, Year 851 (FA234), Available from UCC at https://celt.ucc.ie (Feb. 14, 2022)
  7. A. Forte, R. Oram, F. Pedersen, Viking Empires (Cambridge, 2005), p. 108
  8. Hugh Hencken, ‘Lagore Crannog: An Irish Royal Residence of the 7th to 10th Centuries A.D.’ in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature, Vol. 53 (1950/1951), pp. 7-11
  9. Niamh Carty and Patrick Gleeson, ‘Kingship, Violence and Loch Da Gabhor: royal landscapes and the production of authority in early medieval Brega’ in Ríocht na Midhe, 24 (2013), p. 47

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