Medieval Lough Cé

Book excerpt: The role of Lough Ce and its relationship to the various lordships of north Roscommon in the later Middle Ages is examined in this collection of essays. Lough Ce was a vital geographic feature in relation to the MacDermot and O'Conor dynasties of the 13th and 14th century, and was the scene of a number of military incursions on the part of English lordships in the mid-13th century. Yet, this lake, and the history and archaeology of the region surrounding the lake, has rarely been examined as a landscape feature in, and of, itself.