Building Isolation and Connection, tracing monastic use of crannogs in medieval Scotland

Artificial islands known as ‘crannogs’ were a common feature of the medieval settlement landscape in Scotland and Ireland. In Ireland, there is extensive evidence for the use of crannogs as dwellings for lay and ecclesiastic elite from at least AD 400 until the post- medieval period with specific documentary association between Christian clergy and crannogs. In Scotland, there is much less direct evidence especially before AD 1200, with most crannog investigations focusing to date on their Iron Age (800 BC-AD 400) origins in Scotland. What medieval ecclesiastic evidence there is comes from just a few excavated sites, a scattered record of antiquarian excavations, limited radiocarbon dates, stray finds, high and late-medieval ecclesiastic use, place names and local legendary associations. The evidence base for monastic use of crannogs in Scotland is even more restricted. This paper reviews the available data on the presence and use of medieval crannogs in Scotland as ecclesiastic, possibly monastic, settlement. Foundational questions on where, when and how crannogs were adopted across the country will be addressed through exploring a range of examples with a view to understanding how the artificiality of these islets was important to the Christian communities who used them.