Fire destroys crannóg site huts

PART of Clare’s crannóg site, which has featured on Irish school curriculums for decades, has been destroyed in a fire.

Two thatched huts on the crannóg - a man-made island built by Bronze Age chieftains to provide security for their families and animals - were completely destroyed and the wooden walls surrounding the island were also damaged.

Cragganowen, which is located close to the village of Quin, is one of the Shannon region’s biggest tourist attractions, with around 36,000 visitors every year. Shannon Heritage said the site was insured and would be rebuilt as soon as possible.

Gardaí completed a forensic examination of the burnt huts yesterday. It will cost up to €40,000 to rebuild them.

Garda Inspector Tom Kennedy, Ennis, said: “We haven’t discovered anything to suggest the fire was started maliciously.”

Shannon Heritage chief operating officer John Ruddle said: “The damage is not irreparable. We’ve got a number of people who are expert in this area, including our own internal thatcher who did the roofs there three years ago.”

He said it was possible the fire had been caused by a spark from the open fire outside the hut, which is lit and extinguished each day “The fire is put out and checked every evening and it certainly was checked yesterday.

The 50-acre Craggan-owen site includes a ringfort, a dolmen, a fullacht fia (a cooking facility for hunters) and a museum containing the ‘Brendan’- the boat which was recreated from ancient monastic designs by the explorer Tim Severin and sailed across the Atlantic in the mid-1970s.