Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Coffee Hour at Street Prophets. This is an open thread where we can discuss what’s happening in our lives, what we’ve been working on, and our opinions on current events. Our question of the day: What’s a crannog?
![photo DSCN8115_zps76fzcjbg.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Butte%20%202015/DSCN8115_zps76fzcjbg.jpg)
If you guessed that a crannog is a special kind of Irish dance performed in pubs in Dingle for St. Brendon’s day or a kind of green beer consumed on St. Patrick’s day, then you guessed wrong.
Crannogs are artificial islands in the middle of lakes. Used from about 1000 BCE to 1600 CE, the crannogs allowed for greater protection from attack. The name “crannog” is derived from the Irish root—“crann” which means “tree” and relates to the use of wood. To make a crannog, the people would dump timber, earth, and stones onto a lake or river bed.
Shown below are photographs of the reconstructed crannog at Craggaunowen which shows more about what life was like in a crannog.
![Crannog 1826](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Ireland/Crannog/DSCN1826.jpg)
![Crannog 1827](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Ireland/Crannog/DSCN1827.jpg)
![Crannog 1848](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Ireland/Crannog/DSCN1848.jpg)
![house 447](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Ireland/Crannog/P1070447.jpg)
![House 1851](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Ireland/Crannog/DSCN1851.jpg)
![Crannog 1828](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Ireland/Crannog/DSCN1828.jpg)
Shown above is a typical round house using a wattle-and-daub system for the walls and a thatched roof.
![House 1850](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Ireland/Crannog/DSCN1850.jpg)
Shown above is a larger oval-shaped house.
![Thatch 1844](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Ireland/Crannog/DSCN1844.jpg)
Shown above is a detail of the thatched roof.
![Interior 1831](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Ireland/Crannog/DSCN1831.jpg)
![interior 1833](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Ireland/Crannog/DSCN1833.jpg)
![Interior 1834](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Ireland/Crannog/DSCN1834.jpg)
![Interior 1840](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Ireland/Crannog/DSCN1840.jpg)
Shown above are the house interiors.
This is an open thread where you can talk about crannogs, Politics, Religion, dinner, music, or whatever else interests you today.