Great Clare find
The Great Clare find (or Great Clare gold find of 1854) is the largest gold hoard discovered in Northern Europe to date. It was made near Moghane Hillfort in County Clare , Ireland while building the railroad.
During the construction of the Ennis to Limerick railway line in 1854, a group of workers found a pot of gold. The find was found in deep ground in a recently drained area in a cavity under a stone. The finders shared the gold among themselves and sold it to jewelers. Much of the gold was melted down. The original number of objects is unknown. The hoard consisted of bracelets, gold bars , gorgets and neck rings. Part of the treasure, 146 artifacts , was reported to the Royal Irish Academy in the year it was found. Plaster casts were made of it. But only the 29 artifacts that are now in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin and the British Museum in London have survived. Stylistically, the objects date from the Dowris phase of the late Bronze Age , around 900 to 700 BC. Chr.
See also
literature
- George Eogan: The Hoards of the Irish later Bronze Age . Dublin 1983 pp. 69-73.