Public attention was first directed to Irish crannogs by Sir W. Wilde,
in the year 1839. It appears that early in this year Dr. Petrie's
curiosity was roused by the frequency of the visits of a local dealer
offering for sale objects of more or less archæological value, which,
he stated, were found in a peat bog at Dunshaughlin, in the county of
Meath. The articles exhibited were of a miscellaneous character, and
their assortment in such a place seemed so strange that Dr. Petrie
determined to visit the locality. Accordingly he and Surgeon Wilde
(afterwards Sir W. R. Wilde) started for West Meath in search of the
mysterious find, and were conducted to the peat-bog of Lagore, near
the village of Dunshaughlin. Here, within the boundaries of a drained
lake, they found an artificial mound entirely overgrown with peat,
then partially exposed by turf-cutters. On making inquiries as to the
antecedents of this mound they were informed that it had been well
known to bone-collectors for upwards of ten years, and that already
150 cart-loads of bones had been dug out and forwarded to Scotland for
manure. Altogether the find was considered of great importance, and it
was arranged between the two antiquaries that Petrie should write a
description of the antiquities, while Wilde was to confine himself to
an analysis of the animal remains.
According to Mr. W. F. Wakeman,[71] it appears that Dr. Petrie was
a little jealous of Surgeon Wilde's enthusiasm for archæology, and
accordingly wished to limit the scope of his investigations. Wilde's
paper, entitled "On the Animal Remains and Antiquities recently
found at Dunshaughlin," was read at a meeting of the Irish Academy on
the 27th April, 1840, and it is singular, and perhaps confirmatory
of Wakeman's suggestion, that, with the exception of two extracts
bearing on the situation and structure of the mound, it is reported in
the Proceedings only in abstract. I here quote these extracts as the
most authoritative description of this remarkable lake-dwelling now
extant:--