A ' Dug-out' Canoe.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 14, 3 April 1902, Page 5

A ' Dug-out ' Canoe.

Another evidence of the habits of the early colonists of Ireland was afforded by the discovery of a large ' dug-out ' canoe in a bog about eight miles from Tuani, in County Galway recently. This interesting find (says the Freeman.? Journal') was purchased by the Royal Irish Academy, and has reached the Dublin Museum. It is an unusually fine specimen, measuring 52ft long by 4ft wide at the prow end. It has been hollowed out of a single oak tree. This gives some idea of the tize of the oaks which grew in Ireland in former times. The condition of this canoe is very good, and the construction is ingenious. A strengthening piece left in the solid runs from bow to stern on the inside. There are five small holes on each side to attach the paddles to. The moving of this interesting antiquity has been one of great difficulty on account of its great weight and length. It had to be conveyed across the fields to the road, and thence seme six miles to Milltown Station, where it was placed on four railway trucks for carriage to Dublin. It is impossible to place a date on this boat, but judging from its construction and the size of the tree from which it was hollowed, it must be of very great antiquity. It will be necessary to keep this canoe for some months in a dry place before it can be placed in the museum and shown to visitors. There has been a canoe of this description in the museum for a long time, and, until the discovery of the present one, it was the largest that had ever been found. It was 43 feet long, and it may be interesting to note the expedient to which its finders resorted to have iT conveyed to Dublin. The people who found it were put into communication with the Royal Irish Academy, and, this body being anxious to have the specimen exhibited in the museum aa soon as possible, telegraphed to have it sent on by rail at once. The people down the country had it cut transversely, packed carefully, and sent on by train to Dublin. It was one of the old war canoes used by the inhabitants of the 'crannoga' or lake dwellings, and that it was a formidable piece of naval equipment for the remote time may be gathered from the fact that it was capable of accommodating 35 fighting men and 20 rowers. Provision was made for paddles at both ends of the boat-, and the fighting body occupied the centre, while there was a look-out man at each end. The existing of the receptacles for paddles at the ends of the boat point to the fact that the canoe must have been used as a war vessel ; but it is probable that it was also used as a means of communication with the surrounding country. The ' crannoga,' or lake dwellings, were erected on stockades in the lakes, and, although they were sometimes approached by causeways, access to them was generally secured by the aid of boats of the description of those now in the Dublin Museum.