List of hoards in Ireland

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Gold models of ship and cauldron, torc, from the Broighter Hoard

The list of hoards in Ireland comprises the significant archaeological hoards of coins, jewellery, metal objects, scrap metal and other valuable items that have been discovered on the island of Ireland (Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). It includes both hoards that were buried with the intention of retrieval at a later date (personal hoards, founder's hoards, merchant's hoards, and hoards of loot), and also hoards of votive offerings which were not intended to be recovered at a later date, but excludes grave goods and single items found in isolation. The list is subdivided into sections according to archaeological and historical periods.

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Neolithic hoards[]

The table below lists hoards that are dated to the Neolithic period, approximately 4500 to 2500 BC.

Hoard Image Date Place of discovery Year of discovery Current Location Contents
Malone Hoard 16 porcellanite axes from the Malone Hoard Danesfort House, Malone Road, Belfast
County Antrim
54°34′16″N 5°56′42″W / 54.571°N 5.945°W / 54.571; -5.945 (Malone Hoard)
1869–1918 Ulster Museum, Belfast 19 polished porcellanite axes[1]

Bronze Age hoards[]

The table below list hoards that are associated with the Irish Copper and Bronze Ages, approximately 2500 BC to 700 BC.

Hoard Image Date Place of discovery Year of discovery Current Location Contents
Ballinesker Hoard 8th century BC Ballinesker
County Wexford
52°23′46″N 6°21′32″W / 52.396°N 6.359°W / 52.396; -6.359 (Ballinesker Hoard)
1990 National Museum of Ireland, Dublin 2 gold dress fasteners
1 gold bracelet
2 gold disks
3 gold boxes[2]
Ballytegan Hoard Ballytegan
County Laois
53°03′22″N 7°18′25″W / 53.056°N 7.307°W / 53.056; -7.307 (Ballytegan Hoard)
1967 National Museum of Ireland, Dublin 2 bronze axeheads, 1 bronze bracelet, and a number of bronze rings and pins[3]
Coggalbeg Hoard 24th to 19th century BC Coggalbeg
County Roscommon
53°43′34″N 8°09′07″W / 53.726°N 8.152°W / 53.726; -8.152 (Coggalbeg Hoard)
1945 National Museum of Ireland, Dublin 1 gold lunula
2 gold discs[4]
Derrinboy Hoard 14th to 13th century BC Derrinboy
County Offaly
53°09′18″N 7°43′05″W / 53.155°N 7.718°W / 53.155; -7.718 (Derrinboy Hoard)
1957 or 1958 National Museum of Ireland, Dublin 1 gold necklet
2 gold armlets
2 gold rings[5]
Dowris Hoard 9th to 7th century BC Whigsborough, near Birr
County Offaly
53°10′01″N 7°52′08″W / 53.167°N 7.869°W / 53.167; -7.869 (Dowris Hoard)
1825 or 1833 National Museum of Ireland, Dublin
British Museum, London
5 swords
44 spearheads
43 axes
26 horns
44 crotals
3 bronze buckets
1 cauldron[6]
Kilmoyly Hoard 9th to 8th century BC Kilmoyly North
County Kerry
52°22′12″N 9°46′16″W / 52.370°N 9.771°W / 52.370; -9.771 (Kilmoyly Hoard)
1940 National Museum of Ireland, Dublin 3 gold bracelets
1 gold dress-fastener[7]
Mooghaun North Hoard Late Bronze Age near Mooghaun Fort, County Clare 1854 Mostly lost; 29 pieces in National Museum of Ireland and British Museum Probably over 200 gold objects, mostly plain bar bracelets, with torcs, collars and ingots[8]

Iron Age hoards[]

The table below list hoards that are associated with the Irish Iron Age, approximately 700 BC to 400 AD.

Hoard Image Date Place of discovery Year of discovery Current Location Contents
Broighter Hoard Boat from the Broighter hoard 1st century BC near Limavady
County Londonderry
55°04′23″N 6°59′02″W / 55.073°N 6.984°W / 55.073; -6.984 (Broighter Hoard)
1896 National Museum of Ireland, Dublin 1 gold model ship
1 gold model cauldron
2 gold neck chains
2 twisted gold torc necklets
1 hollow gold torc or collar[9]
Dooyork Hoard 3rd century BC to 2nd century AD Dooyork
County Mayo
54°06′22″N 9°55′59″W / 54.106°N 9.933°W / 54.106; -9.933 (Dooyork Hoard)
2001 National Museum of Ireland, Dublin 4 gold torcs
3 bronze bracelets
7 amber beads[10]

Roman hoards[]

The table below list hoards of Roman coins and silverware found in Ireland. There are very few Roman hoards in Ireland as it was never part of the Roman Empire, and those hoards that have been found are thought to have been looted from Britain by Irish raiders.[11]

Hoard Image Date Place of discovery Year of discovery Current Location Contents
Balline Hoard late 4th century Balline
County Limerick
52°23′56″N 8°27′18″W / 52.399°N 8.455°W / 52.399; -8.455 (Balline Hoard)
1940 National Museum of Ireland, Dublin 4 silver ingots and 3 pieces of silver plate[11]
Coleraine Hoard Hack silver, ingots and coins from the Coleraine Hoard early 5th century Ballinrees
County Londonderry
55°06′29″N 6°45′43″W / 55.108°N 6.762°W / 55.108; -6.762 (Coleraine Hoard)
1854 British Museum, London
Ulster Museum, Belfast
1,701 silver Roman coins, a silver bowl, and 6 kg of silver ingots and hacksilver[12]

Early Medieval hoards[]

The table below lists hoards that are associated with the early medieval period, from the introduction of Christianity until the start of Anglo-Norman settlement, approximately 400 AD to 1100 AD.

Hoard Image Date Place of discovery Year of discovery Current Location Contents
Ardagh Hoard The Ardagh chalice early 10th century Ardagh Fort
County Limerick
52°29′42″N 9°03′43″W / 52.495°N 9.062°W / 52.495; -9.062 (Ardagh Hoard)
1868 National Museum of Ireland, Dublin 1 silver chalice
1 bronze chalice
4 silver-gilt brooches.[13]
Derrynaflan Hoard The Derrynaflan chalice early 10th century near Killenaule
County Tipperary
52°34′01″N 7°40′08″W / 52.567°N 7.669°W / 52.567; -7.669 (Derrynaflan Hoard)
1980 National Museum of Ireland, Dublin A set of liturgical vessels, comprising a silver chalice, a silver paten, a stand for the paten, a liturgical strainer, and a bronze basin.[14]

Viking hoards[]

The table below lists hoards that are associated with the Viking culture in Ireland.

Hoard Image Date Place of discovery Year of discovery Current Location Contents
Mullaghboden Hoard mid 9th century Mullaghboden
County Kildare
53°08′24″N 6°39′29″W / 53.140°N 6.658°W / 53.140; -6.658 (Mullaghboden Hoard)
1871 11 Carolingian coins[15]

Medieval hoards[]

The table below lists hoards that date to the late medieval period, from 1066 to about 1500.

Hoard Image Date Place of discovery Year of discovery Current Location Contents
Armagh City Hoard late 14th century near Armagh
County Armagh
54°20′56″N 6°39′17″W / 54.349°N 6.6546°W / 54.349; -6.6546
1998 Ulster Museum 35 silver coins worth £1,800[16]

Post-Medieval hoards[]

The table below lists hoards that date to 1536 or later, following the reconquest of Ireland by Henry VIII of England. Most of these hoards date to the Elizabethan era (1558–1603), during which time the Nine Years' War (1594–1603) caused considerable instability throughout Ireland, but especially in Ulster.

Hoard Image Date Place of discovery Year of discovery Current Location Contents
Armagh Castle Street Hoard late 16th century Castle Street, Armagh
County Armagh
54°20′49″N 6°39′22″W / 54.347°N 6.656°W / 54.347; -6.656 (Armagh Castle Street Hoard)
1976 Ulster Museum, Belfast 135 Irish groats[17]
Carrick-on-Suir Hoard late 17th century 76 Main Street, Carrick-on-Suir
County Tipperary
52°20′45″N 7°24′45″W / 52.3458°N 7.4125°W / 52.3458; -7.4125 (Carrick-on-Suir Hoard)
2013 81 gold guineas and half guineas dating from the reigns of Charles II, James II, William and Mary, and William III[18]

See also[]

Footnotes[]

  1. ^ "A History of the World : The Malone Hoard". BBC. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
  2. ^ "Dress-fastener". National Museum of Ireland. Archived from the original on 2012-02-25. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
  3. ^ Raftery, Joseph (1971). "A Bronze Age Hoard from Ballytegan, County Laois". Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. 101 (1): 85–100. ISSN 0035-9106.
  4. ^ "Early Bronze Age gold". National Museum of Ireland. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  5. ^ "Necklet". National Museum of Ireland. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  6. ^ "The Dowris Hoard". National Museum of Ireland. Archived from the original on 2011-01-10. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  7. ^ "The Broighter Hoard". National Museum of Ireland. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  8. ^ Wallace, Patrick F., O'Floinn, Raghnall eds. Treasures of the National Museum of Ireland: Irish Antiquities, pp. 89-90, 2002, Gill & Macmillan, Dublin, ISBN 0717128296
  9. ^ "The Broighter Hoard". National Museum of Ireland. Archived from the original on 2010-06-19. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  10. ^ "Torc". National Museum of Ireland. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Edwards 2006, p. 4
  12. ^ Mattingly, Harold; Pearce, J.W.E.; Kendrick, T.D. (1937). "The Coleraine hoard". Antiquity. 11 (41): 39–45. ISSN 0003-598X.
  13. ^ "The Ardagh Hoard". National Museum of Ireland. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  14. ^ "The Derrynaflan Hoard". National Museum of Ireland. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  15. ^ Edwards 2006, p. 177
  16. ^ "Treasure Annual Report 1998–1999" (PDF). Department for Culture, Media and Sport. 2000. pp. 136–137. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
  17. ^ Bateson, J.D. (1978). "Two Elizabethan Coin Hoards from Armagh". Ulster Journal of Archaeology. 3rd. 41: 88–93. ISSN 0035-9106.
  18. ^ Kenny, Ciara (29 January 2013). "Gold coins discovered beneath pub". Irish Times.

References[]

  • Edwards, Nancy (2006). The Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-22000-2.
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