Coggalbeg Hoard Ancient Irish Gold National Museum exhibits

Sceala Clann T.D. Location: Longford

Imagine finding some ancient Irish gold in a rubbish skip. This actually happened with the Coggalbeg Hoard.

The Gold hoard of Coggalbeg are now exhibits of the Museum of Country Life in Turlough Park, Castlebar.
The ancient Irish Gold exhibits will be on display until summer 2012. The gold hoard will then be permanent exhibits of the National Museum of Ireland on Kildare Street in Dublin.
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These Bronze age ancient Irish gold ornaments will soon become exhibits of The National Museum of Ireland.

The Irish Museum gold hoard exhibits
Safe Secrets: the Story of the Coggalbeg Hoard
A new hoard of Early Bronze Age gold from Coggalbeg, Co. Roscommon

The National Museum of Ireland is delighted to announce that the hoard of Early Bronze Age goldwork which formed part of the contents of a pharmacy safe stolen from Sheehan’s Chemists, Strokestown, Co. Roscommon, in March 2009, will be exhibited at the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life, Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co. Mayo from Friday 21 October 2011.

The exhibition will be on display until Summer 2012.
The hoard consists of a gold lunula, a crescent-shaped collar, and two small gold discs dating to the Early Bronze Age c. 2300-1800 BC. The three objects had been placed in the pharmacy safe in 1947 and had only been seen by members of the Sheehan family on a couple of occasions since then. The opportunistic robbery of the safe led to this amazing discovery.
Dumped in a skip

Following the robbery of the safe the Sheehan family told the investigating Gardaí that the safe contained three pieces of gold jewellery. From the description provided by the family, curators from the National Museum’s Irish Antiquities Division believed the jewellery to be gold ornaments of the Early Bronze Age period. Because of the thin and flat nature of the objects and their extremely light weight (78g in total, about 2 ½ ozs) it became apparent that the hoard might have been missed completely when the contents of the safe were examined by the robbers. This eventually proved to be the case.

The investigating detectives established that all the papers from the safe had been dumped in a skip in Dublin. As the refuse was due to be collected within a few hours of this information coming to hand, An Garda Síochána moved quickly to secure the skip and arranged for the refuse to be examined. The detectives who undertook this very unappealing task were rewarded by the recovery of the hoard, complete and intact.
Treasures from the bog

Detective work of an archaeological nature undertaken by the NMI’s curators in the Irish Antiquities Division led to the identification of the original finder of the hoard and the place where the find was made. The finder was Mr Hubert Lannon, Four Mile House, Co. Roscommon, who had found the hoard when cutting turf in his bog at Coggalbeg, Co. Roscommon, in March 1945.

This extraordinary series of events has led to the discovery of the most significant hoard of Early Bronze Age goldwork from Ireland for many, many years. From an archaeological perspective this hoard is of great significance. It includes a pair of gold discs, the first pair to have been found since the nineteenth century and the only pair found in the twentieth century. This is the second pair recorded from Co. Roscommon. Only 21 discs survive from Ireland.

Of even more importance is the fact that this hoard represents the first recorded association of a lunula and gold discs. This has important implications for the dating of discs and lunulae as the discs are seen as representing the very earliest Beaker period sheet gold with lunulae believed to date somewhat later. This hoard suggests period of overlap between the two styles of early goldwork in the period from about 2300 BC to 2000BC.
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How the story of the Coggalbeg Hoard was reported in Ireland.
Ancient Irish Gold hoard thrown in skip displayed
A hoard of Early Bronze Age gold that was salvaged from a skip following a botched robbery has gone on display.
The ancient artefacts were recovered by gardai in 2009 after being dumped along with the stolen safe they had been kept in at Sheehan's Pharmacy in Strokestown, Co Roscommon.
The thieves had not realised that the 5,000-year-old gold was hidden among documents when they tipped out what they thought were the safe's worthless contents.
Tony Candon, manager at the National Museum of Ireland where the gold will go on display, said: "Those thieves missed out big time when they unknowingly threw this treasure away."
The Sheehan family acquired the artefacts - a gold crescent shaped collar known as a lunula and two gold discs - in 1947, two years after Hubert Lannon dug them up in a Coggalbeg bog near Strokestown. They kept them in the pharmacy's safe ever since, only occasionally taking them out through the years.
Mr Candon explained: "Mr Lannon found the gold when he was cutting up turf in 1945. Two years later he gave it to Patrick Sheehan and he kept it in the safe.
"The family knew over the years that they had something valuable and important. They treated it as a family heirloom and it had been at the back of their minds. But then when the safe was stolen, it occurred to them the gold was inside. That's when they got in touch with the museum about it."
It is believed the thieves failed to notice the artefacts when they threw the safe's contents in a skip. The gold weighs 78 grams or 2.5 ounces.
Minister for arts Jimmy Deenihan opened the exhibition at the Museum of Country Life in Turlough Park, Castlebar. He said: "An extraordinary series of unlikely events led to the discovery of the most significant hoard of Early Bronze Age goldwork from Ireland for many years. From an archaeological perspective this hoard is of great significance."
The exhibition will run until next summer before the gold is moved to the main National Museum of Ireland on Kildare Street in Dublin.
leinsterleader.ie/news/national/gold_hoard_thrown_in_skip_displayed_1_3171948
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A hoard of Early Bronze Age gold that was salvaged from a skip following a botched robbery has gone on display.
The ancient artefacts were recovered by gardai in 2009 after being dumped along with the stolen safe they had been kept in at Sheehan's Pharmacy in Strokestown, Co Roscommon.

The thieves had not realised that the 5,000-year-old gold was hidden among documents when they tipped out what they thought were the safe's worthless contents.

Tony Candon, manager at the National Museum of Ireland where the gold will go on display, said: "Those thieves missed out big time when they unknowingly threw this treasure away."

The Sheehan family acquired the artefacts - a gold crescent shaped collar known as a lunula and two gold discs - in 1947, two years after Hubert Lannon dug them up in a Coggalbeg bog near Strokestown. They kept them in the pharmacy's safe ever since, only occasionally taking them out through the years.
belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/gold-hoard-thrown-in-skip-displayed-16066469.html#ixzz1bP6QK9j0
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New hoard of Early Bronze Age gold from Coggalbeg opens at museum
The hoard of Early Bronze Age goldwork which formed part of the contents of a pharmacy safe stolen from Sheehan’s Chemists, Strokestown, Co Roscommon, in March 2009 was officially opened by Jimmy Deenihan, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life, Turlough Park, Castlebar, yesterday (Thursday). Safe Secrets: the Story of the Coggalbeg Hoard will be on display until Summer 2012.

The hoard consists of a gold lunula, a crescent-shaped collar, and two small gold discs dating to the Early Bronze Age c2300-1800BC. The three objects had been placed in the pharmacy safe in 1947 and had only been seen by members of the Sheehan family on a couple of occasions since then. The opportunistic robbery of the safe led to this amazing discovery.

Commenting on the new exhibition, Minister Deenihan said: “An extraordinary series of unlikely events led to the discovery of the most significant hoard of Early Bronze Age goldwork from Ireland for many years. From an archaeological perspective this hoard is of great significance. I am delighted to be here to officially launch this exhibition in this dynamic museum, which in its own right, has established itself very firmly as one of the most important educational and cultural resources in the country.”

Dr Patrick Wallace, director, National Museum of Ireland, is particularly pleased that the exhibition has come to the Museum of Country Life, Turlough Park. “This exhibition continues our policy of bringing important treasures to our Country Life branch. Following the success of the Cross of Cong in 2010, the Coggalbeg Hoard is sure to captivate visitors when they see it on display over the coming year. The courageous role of the Garda Síochána should also be remembered.”

Following the robbery of the safe the Sheehan family told the investigating gardaí that the safe contained three pieces of gold jewellery. From the description provided by the family, curators from the National Museum’s Irish Antiquities Division believed the jewellery to be gold ornaments of the Early Bronze Age period. Because of the thin and flat nature of the objects and their extremely light weight it became apparent that the hoard might have been missed completely when the contents of the safe were examined by the robbers. This eventually proved to be the case.

The investigating detectives established that all the papers from the safe had been dumped in a skip in Dublin. As the refuse was due to be collected within a few hours of this information coming to hand, An Garda Síochána moved quickly to secure the skip and arranged for the refuse to be examined. The detectives who undertook this very unappealing task were rewarded by the recovery of the hoard, complete and intact.

Exhibition opening hours from Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm; Sunday 2pm to 5pm; closed Mondays. museum.ie Admission is free.
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Coggalbeg Hoard Ancient Irish Gold Natonial Museum exhibits

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