The Lurgan Canoe, which is over 4,000 years old, was discovered in 1901 by Patrick Coen in Addergoole Bog, once a shallow lake, in the townland of Lurgan in County Galway, Ireland.
It was cut from a single oak trunk and is over 14.0 m long and 1.0 m wide. The dugout canoe is the largest artifact in the National Museum of Ireland. Radiocarbon dating of the boat placed it at 3940 ± 25 BC.
To transform a massive oak tree into this canoe, using stone axes and fire, Bronze Age people must have expended considerable time and effort. Inside the boat, they left a series of raised “ribs” to divide it into sections and stabilize it. This has led archaeologists to suggest that the canoe may have been connected to a second one to form a catamaran, or that an outrigger was attached to the boat. This would have given the canoe greater stability and allowed it to be used on large areas of open water or the sea.
Patrick Coen discovered the boat in 1902
The Lurgan Canoe is not unique. Two similar dugouts have been discovered in the north of Connacht. Part of a boat was discovered at Carrowneden in County Mayo and a complete canoe at Annaghkeen in County Galway. The oak canoe from Annagheen is 12 m long, while the Carrowneden canoe can be reconstructed to a similar size.
The original function of the large canoes is uncertain. It seems unlikely that they were used for fishing. The size of the dugout canoes suggests that they were built for another purpose under the guidance of experienced boat builders.
