The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology (1996) 25.2: 95–103

The discovery of an early 18th-century boat inLough Neagh

David Wilkinson and Brian WilliamsEnvironment and Heritage Service, 5–33 Hill Street, Belfast BT1 2LA, Northern Ireland

IntroductionFishermen, trawling for pollen from a boatin Lough Neagh in September 1993, fouledtheir net on a cumbersome object whichcould not be shaken free. On bringingthis catch ashore at Killycolpy, CountyTyrone, after towing it for three or fourmiles, they discovered that they had pickedup the remains of a small boat. Specialistsfrom the Environment Service (now theEnvironment and Heritage Service) care-fully retrieved the assortment of planks,keel, frames, treenails and bottom boards.Despite the lengthy underwater journeyfrom the point of discovery, practicallyevery single one of the ribs and plankscould be reassembled. These produceda substantial portion, 3·76 m long and1·56 m in beam, comprising the lowermosttimbers of a carvel-built rowing boat.The pattern of tree-rings in the plankingestablished a date of construction ofaround AD 1720.

Lough NeaghLough Neagh is situated in the east centralpart of Northern Ireland about 32 km westof Belfast (Fig. 1). It is the largest lake inthe British Isles, covering 373 km2 with acatchment area of 5700 km2. It is 29 kmlong and averages 24 km wide and, despiteits size, is relatively shallow, having a meandepth of only 9 m. The shores are mostlyflat and marshy and on the south andsouth-west the water is shallow for a longdistance offshore. Lough Neagh borders

five of the six counties of Northern Ireland:Londonderry and Antrim on the north,Down on the east, Armagh on the southand Tyrone on the west shore. The chieffeeders of the Lough are the Upper Bann,the Blackwater and the Main and it isdrained northwards to the Atlantic by theLower Bann. Biologically, Lough Neaghis a very productive system, supportingnot only the largest eel fishery in westernEurope but also a major scale-fishindustry.The estimated position of the find was

approximately three nautical miles north-west of Ardmore Point and four nauticalmiles north-east of the Upper Bann Mouthin 25 to 30 feet of water (7·6 to 9·1 m)indicating a location in the vicinity of54)33.00*N and 6)29.00*W (Fig. 1, basedon Hydrographic Chart 2163).

General descriptionThe remains consist of most of the bottompart of a small, carvel-built rowing boatwhich is relatively flat-bottomed and wide-beamed (Fig. 2). What survives is thatportion of the hull, up to the turn of thebilges, which had been lying in soft mud onthe bed of the lough, while the uppersections in the course of time had rottedaway. The surviving timbers consist of thekeel, part of the stempost, the transomknee, 10 out of a total of 11 floors, sevenout of 11 futtocks on the starboard sideand nine out of 11 futtocks on the portside. The hull is represented by three

1057–2414/96/020095+09 $18.00/0 ? 1996 The Nautical Archaeology Society

almost complete strakes on the starboardside and three almost complete strakes andpart of a fourth on the port side. Othersmall pieces of timber surviving in place atthe stem seem to have been covering piecesfor the hood-ends of the strakes wherethey bedded into the stem rabbet. Alsorecovered was a quantity of bottom boardsnailed to the floors and futtocks. Thefastenings of the boat were wedged oaktreenails. All the planking was fixed to thefloors and futtocks with treenails with theexception of the garboards which had beennailed to the stem-piece and stern knees.The floors, stem and transom knees werefixed to the keel with treenails. All the pine

bottom boards were fixed to the floors andfuttocks with iron nails.

Keel, stem and stern (Fig. 3)KeelThe keel consists of one length of oak3370 mm long with an average crosssection 100 mm wide and 65 mm deep.Continuous well-formed ‘V’-shaped rab-bets run along each side of the keel tohouse the edges of the garboard strakes.Still in place in these rabbets is a blackbedding or luting material. An analysis ofthis material is not yet available, but it hasa black tar-like appearance. The rabbets in

Killycolpy CutLough Neagh

PortmoreLough

Ardmore Point

Bann Mouth

Lough Gullion

River Bann

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10

5

2

5

10

10

5

2

Wreck location

10 0 1 2 3

Cables Sea milesDepths in meters

North

0 50 100

Scale Miles

LoughNeagh

Dublin

Belfast

Figure 1 Map of Ireland showing location of Lough Neagh. The southern part of Lough Neagh basedon Hydrographic Chart 2163.

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the keel continue in the stem-piece andtransom knee which house the hood-endsof the garboards (Fig. 4). From the qualityof the keel rabbet and garboard edge-jointit would appear that the garboards werebedded into place rather than subsequentlycaulked. Although, as measured, the keelhas a slight downward curve to the stern, itis clear that as built the keel would havebeen straight but not necessarily parallel tothe assumed waterline. Still in evidence onthe top surface of the keel are scribe marksindicating the positions for the frames,stem and the transom knee.

StemThe stem-piece survives to a height of300 mm above the top surface of the keel.It is formed from a naturally-grown oakcrook 125 mm sided and 165 mm mouldedat its greatest extent. The base of the

stem-piece bedded on the keel is 450 mmlong. There are shallow ‘V’-shaped rabbets42 mm by 30 mm by 20 mm deep andfollowing the curve of the stem, cut tohouse the hood-ends of the planks. Thewidth of the stem between the landings ofthe strakes is 57 mm. The stem is fixed tothe keel with three wedged oak treenailsand at the fore-end of the keel there is onelarge nail fastening it to the stem-piece(Fig. 2, section). Still in situ on the stem arethree small lengths of timber, one 365 mmlong, 57 mm wide and 25 mm thick; asecond 310 mm long, 54 mm wide and25 mm thick and a third, 380 mm long,75 mm wide and 15 mm thick. These piecesare of similar curvature to the stem-pieceand would appear to be the remnants ofcovering pieces for the hood-ends of theplanks (Fig. 5). There are the remains oftreenail holes through the two smaller

Figure 2 General plan and section.

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Figure3Keyplan.

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Figure4Sections.

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pieces which correspond with the remainsof treenail holes through the stem runningfrom front to back. Treenails also survive,one through the base of the stem-piece andanother through the keel, level with therear heel of the stem-piece. Vestiges of atreenail hole in the third length of cover-piece correspond with the treenail throughthe stem-piece. This third length of timberappears to have been fixed over one of thesmaller pieces on the port side on the stem.Figure 5 illustrates the reconstruction ofthe covering-pieces.

Transom kneeThe transom knee is formed from anaturally-grown oak crook attached tothe keel with four wedged oak treenails.It is 100 mm wide by 150 mm deep atits greatest dimension. The base of thetransom knee at the keel is 380 mm longand the rear face, which is raked back at anangle of 23), measures 220 mm up to thebase of the transom. There are shallow‘V’-shaped rabbets formed in the transomknee to take the hood-ends of the garboardstrakes. These rabbets measure 40 mm by20 mm by 15 mm deep but do not followthe rake of the rear face of the transomknee, instead making an angle of 45) withthe keel. They run out to the rear of the

transom knee terminating at the base ofthe rabbet for the transom.

FloorsWhen recovered the vessel had 10 out of atotal of 11 ash floors still attached to thekeel with 21 mm diameter wedged oaktreenails, one treenail through each floor.They are roughly formed, varying insection throughout their length and there isno consistency of size between the variousfloors. The degree of variation in sizes oftimber used would seem to indicate the useof available supplies rather than access tostock which could be cut to a uniformsectional size. Floors were fixed to the keelat centres varying between 250 mm and300 mm and at angles varying between84·5) and 93). Each floor had a rectangularlimber-hole cut on each side of the keel andaveraging 40 by 15 mm.

FuttocksThe surviving futtocks comprise seven ofeleven on the starboard side and nine ofeleven on the port side. They are of ashwith no consistency of size or shape; someare formed from natural crooks whileothers are cut to shape. The futtocks arefixed to the hull planking with 21 mmdiameter wedged oak treenails. There islittle regularity in the fixing of the futtocksto the strakes. Some extend from S1 out-wards, others from S2, some are fixed toS1, S2 and S3, other to S2 and S3 only. Thefuttocks are not fixed to the adjacent floorsto form composite frames but are attachedto the hull planking only. The sequence ofconstruction would have been keel, stem-piece, transom knee, transom, floors andthen hull planking to the turn of the bilge.At this stage the futtocks would have beenattached to the hull and side plankingcompleted.

StrakesThe hull planking consists of oak strakesof 22 mm general thickness. Three strakes

Stem

Fillet

Covering-piece

Garboardstrake

Keel

TrenailDetail at stem

Figure 5 Reconstruction drawing showingcovering-pieces to the stem.

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survive on the starboard side and threestrakes and part of a fourth on the portside. The timber used was slab cut, ratherthan being quarter sawn, resulting inplanks containing areas of wild grain andknots. On the starboard side each strakeconsists of two planks. The butt joints inthe strakes occurring for SIS under F6, forS2S under F4 and the join in S3S occurringunder Ft8, which is missing. Adjacent tothe join in S3S the plank includes an areaof bad grain which has split and subse-quently been repaired with a 20 by 20 mmrectangular oak plug. On the port side S1consists of three planks with the butt jointsoccurring under F3 and F8. Possibly thisstrake includes an area of replaced plank-ing as it is unlikely that such short runs ofplanking would have been used duringconstruction. There is an additional area ofrepair to S1P consisting of a graining piece100 mm wide tapering to 60 mm wide and250 mm long between F3 and F4. S2Pconsists of two planks joined under F5 andthis strake also has been patched at itsafter end between F10 and F11. S3P sur-vives from just forward of F1 back to F10and is in one piece. There is a further smallpart of S3 attached to F10 which seems tobe a repair. A small length of S4P survivesbetween F1 and F5. All the strakes werefastened to floors and futtocks with 21 mmdiameter wedged oak treenails. At plank-joins nails were used to fix the planks tothe floors and futtocks. The garboardstrakes at bow and stern were fixed withnails to the stem-piece and transom knee.While the strakes are generally 18 to22 mm in thickness, in some places thisreduces to as little as 10 mm.

FixingsTreenailsThe treenails are 20 to 22 mm diameteroak with wedges at each end. It is correctpractice when forming wedged treenailfastenings to place the wedge into thetreenail at 90) to the run of the grain in

the plank. If the wedge is parallel to theplank grain it tends to cause splitting ofthe plank. On examination of the treenailfixings of the Lough Neagh boat it wasfound that the wedging of the treenails washaphazard with many of the wedges beingparallel to the run of plank grain.

NailsNails were used to fit the bottom boards tothe floors and futtocks, at plank buttsand to the ends of the garboards. Theiron nails are hand-wrought with a crosssection tapering to a probable chisel-point. Examples extracted were originallyapproximately 38 to 50 mm long. Theheads are much degraded but the bestpreserved appears to have a ‘rose head’.Where nails were used in the hull plankingthey were driven below the surface level ofthe planks and the holes stopped withputty.

DatingFour samples were cut from the strakesfor dendrochronological dating by staff ofthe Palaeoecology Centre, The Queen’sUniversity of Belfast. The tree-ring patternwas compared with a number of localchronologies and significant and consistentcorrelation values were found giving anend year date of AD 1694. The bestestimated felling date for this tree isAD 1718&9 years.

ConservationIn order to retain the original shape of therecovered portion of the hull the survivingframes and timbers were reassembled whilestill saturated. This was done partly byusing the original treenails, and partly bymeans of stainless steel screw reinforce-ments. The only practical method for con-solidating the hull was to spray it on aregular basis for several months with awater-soluble wax cocktail, consisting ofaqueous dilutions of various polyethylene-glycols. After spraying ceased, and the

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wood had been allowed to dry, a numberof imperfections, particularly in some ofthe more degraded frames, were infilledwith an epoxy putty and then trimmedflush. On the other hand, a sizeable sectionof pine boarding which had also beenrecovered lay in scores of very muchsmaller pieces of wood, which could befreeze-dried as well as treated with poly-ethyleneglycol. Once they were dry it be-came possible to realign these fragmentsupon a sheet of hardboard and to replacethe restored section of boarding in itsoriginal position above the floors.

SurveyThe accurate surveying of the LoughNeagh boat presented an unusual problem.It was necessary to support the hull in asrigid a manner as possible but still leavesufficient access to the underside of theboat. A framework of scaffolding was con-structed with the hull supported at a heightof 1050 mm above floor level. The keelrested on timber cross members set atapproximately 600 mm intervals. Profiled25 mm thick plywood chocks were cut tofit the underside of each strake and fixed tothe timber cross members. The hull wasnot fixed to the supports but retained inplace under its own weight. Above the levelof the hull, hardwood beams were fixed tothe vertical scaffolding bars with steelbrackets. A rebate was cut in the upperedge of each beam into which was glued aseries of 1 m long measuring rods. Thebeams were carefully set to be exactlyparallel, level and with the zero points ofthe measuring rods corresponding. A hard-wood sliding cross beam was then con-structed incorporating a rebate on its loweredge to house a measuring rod. The crossbeam could slide longitudinally along theside members and be locked in place in anyposition. A sliding ‘horse’ incorporating avertical steel rule, which could move verti-cally and be locked in position, fitted overand could move along the cross beam.

The hull was now sitting within ameasuring framework and any point on itsinner surface could be located in threedimensions. Pro-forma sheets were pre-pared to record dimensions for each pointwith any relevant notes or explanatorysketches. A series of measurements wastaken across the hull at 50 mm intervalsalong its length. Measurements were takento all features, plank edges, keel, floors,futtocks, treenails and any splits or otherobvious areas of grain run in components.As the 50 mm grid lines did not necessarilycorrespond with edges of floors and fut-tocks, a further series of measurements wastaken to each of these members. Profiles ofthe underside of the hull at each floorposition were also recorded. For this partof the survey a Dumpy Level was usedsighting onto a specially made steel metricmeasuring rod which hung plumb fromthe point to be recorded. The under keelsupports were supplemented and moved asrequired to gain access. For each cross-section recorded a reference reading wastaken back to the surface of the keel. Thesurvey was supplemented as necessary withdimensions taken using callipers, depthgauges and profile gauges to record specificdetails. This was a painstaking andtime-consuming exercise involving manythousands of measurements, but, a goodmethodology has been established, result-ing in a very accurate record of the vessel.

DiscussionThe discovery of a small craft dating tothe early decades of the 18th century is awelcome addition to our knowledge ofvernacular boats in Lough Neagh. Therehas been an absence of material evidencebetween the simple log boats which covera long period of time from prehistorythrough to the 17th century and therecorded tradition of more recent times.The cot, which was in use until recentdecades, was flat-bottomed, of clinker con-struction and is thought among the local

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fishing community to have a long historyof use on Lough Neagh (Donnelly, 1986:53). In the first half of the 20th century the16-foot open dinghy, setting a sprit sailand jib, was the characteristic LoughNeagh fishing boat. It had a transomstern and was clinker-built. This construc-tion conforms with wooden boatbuildingpractice on Irish inland waters andmore widely forms part of a north-westEuropean tradition of boatbuilding, inwhich there has been continuity for at leastfifteen hundred years (McCaughan, 1984:56). There is certainly a clinker traditionfrom as early as the 9th century whenViking fleets were first present on LoughNeagh (O’Donovan, 1856: 624–625). Thistechnical tradition carried on into theMedieval Period when in 1210 King Johnordered two galleys to be built at Antrimfor service on the Lough (Dolley, 1972:112). It is with some surprise, therefore,that the craft recently recovered was foundto be of fundamentally different carvelconstruction. It is not clear whether thisreflects a separate indigenous tradition, anintroduction from elsewhere, or simply theco-existence of the two techniques in the18th century.The circumstances of the loss of the boat

some distance from shore are not known.Lough Neagh is a large lake with a fetch of13 nautical miles from the north-easternshore to the point of discovery and it ispossible that the boat was swamped inheavy weather. There were no associatedfinds or attachments to indicate a use but itis likely that this was a small fishing boat.The lack of a mast-step indicates that this

was not a sailing boat and although theupper portion of the vessel is missing itseems certain that it was a rowing boat.The boat was robustly constructed andclearly had a long life, as evidenced by thenumber of repairs to the planking. Itwould appear not to be the product of afull-time boatbuilder, but of someone whocould, when required, construct a craft.The scantlings are more than adequate butmuch of the timber is of poor quality. Thismay have been due to ignorance, a lackof good quality material available in thelocality, or economic reasons. The for-mation of the difficult joining at the junc-ture of the garboards and keel and thehood-ends of planks to the stem-piece andtransom knee are indicative of a goodlevel of woodworking skill. However, therandom positioning of the wedges in thetreenails and the carelessly positionedfloors would seem to point to a lack ofknowledge of the finer points of theshipwright’s craft.

AcknowledgmentsWe wish to place on record our thanksto Mr Gerard Wylie of Killycolpy,Stewartstown, County Tyrone, for alertingus to the discovery of the boat and tokindly donating it to the Environment andHeritage Service. Thanks are also dueto Malcolm Fry who worked on the con-servation of the boat, to David Brownfor dendrochronological dating, to NickBrannon for his comments on the ironnails, to Kathryn Marshall for her work onthe survey and Michael McCaughan andDarina Tully for their useful observations.

ReferencesDolley, M., 1972, Anglo-Norman Ireland. Dublin.Donnelly, D. J., 1986, On Lough Neagh’s Shores, A Study of the Lough Neagh Fishing Community.Galbally.

McCaughan, M., 1984, A Lough Neagh Replica Fishing Boat. Ulster Folklife, 30: 55–62.O’Donovan, J., 1856, Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters from the Earliest Period to

the Year 1616. Dublin.

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