Boyd's Island, an early crannog.

The peninsula, known as Boyd’s Island, jutting out into Lough Lannagh was once a crannog until drainage lowered the level of the lake. The Ordnance Survey maps show that the land surrounding the peninsula is liable to flooding when rainfall in heavy. Historians believe that it was on this spot that Maurice McDermott, Lord of Moylurg, died ‘in his own mansion’ in 1187 A.D.

The lake is known to have been navigable for thousands of years; in 1964 a ten ft. long dugout canoe, (now known as a log-boat) was found on the shore at Bilberry near Islandeady. The finders, Paddy Brown and John Fitzgerald, two employees of the Inland Fisheries Trust, saw the object protruding from the mud along the shore and went to investigate. The National Museum was informed and the find was examined by Mr. Sean P. O’Riordan. It was estimated that the boat was c.4000 years old. In 1957, a bronze spearhead was also found in the district.