The Mooghaun North Hoard or ''Great Clare Find'' is the name of an important Bronze Age hoard found at

Mooghaun Mooghaun () is a late Bronze Age hill fort located in County Clare, Ireland. It is a well preserved, recently excavated site, occupying an entire hill with wide views of the surrounding lands. Believed to be the largest hill fort in Ireland, i ...

North, near Newmarket-on-Fergus in

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,81 ...

, Ireland. Considered one of the greatest

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

hoards of gold ever found north of the Alps, unfortunately most of the treasure was melted down soon after its discovery. What remains of the hoard is currently split between the

National Museum of Ireland The National Museum of Ireland ( ga, Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann) is Ireland's leading museum institution, with a strong emphasis on national and some international archaeology, Irish history, Irish art, culture, and natural history. It has thr ...

in Dublin and the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

in London.British Museum Collection
/ref> It is no. 11 in ''

A History of Ireland in 100 Objects ''A History of Ireland in 100 Objects'' was a joint project by ''The Irish Times'', the National Museum of Ireland, and the Royal Irish Academy to define one hundred archaeological or cultural objects that are important in the history of Ireland. ...

''.

Discovery

In March 1854, some workers building the West Clare Railway near Newmarket-on-Fergus were realigning a dyke near

Lake, when they accidentally uncovered a huge cache of gold jewellery from the Bronze Age. While shifting a stone they brought to light a large cavity in the ground where the treasure was kept. Most of the precious objects were sold to local dealers who melted them down for their

bullion Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes fro ...

value and only 29 out of a total of over 150 objects survived. Most of the British Museum's share of the find was purchased from William Willoughby Cole, 3rd Earl of Enniskillen in 1857.

Description

When discovered, the Mooghaun North Hoard was one of the largest Bronze Age treasures ever found in Northern or Western Europe. It consisted of over 150 gold objects including 138 bracelets, six collars, two

torc A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large rigid or stiff neck ring in metal, made either as a single piece or from strands twisted together. The great majority are open at the front, although some had hook and ring closures and a few had ...

s and several other items which in total weighed over 5 kg. Just 29 objects survived the melting pot - 15 in the

National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...

and 14 in the

. The extant items of jewellery from the hoard are mostly crescent-shaped bracelets (23) and six neck collars. Fortunately many pieces from the hoard were copied before they were destroyed. Archaeologists are unsure why the hoard was deposited in the stone chamber - it may have been for safe-keeping during a local crisis or was perhaps a

votive offering A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...

to the gods. Recent research indicates that much of the gold used in the creation of these pieces came from the

Mourne Mountains The Mourne Mountains ( ; ga, Beanna Boirche), also called the Mournes or Mountains of Mourne, are a granite mountain range in County Down in the south-east of Northern Ireland. They include the highest mountains in Northern Ireland, the hig ...

in County Down.

References

{{reflist

Bibliography

* G. Eogan: ''The Hoards of the Irish later Bronze Age''. Dublin, 1983. pp. 69–73. * F. O'Toole: ''

''. Dublin, 2013. * P. Wallace: ''A Guide to the National Museum of Ireland''. Dublin, 2000. Prehistoric Ireland Prehistoric objects in the British Museum Treasure troves in the Republic of Ireland Bronze Age art Collection of the National Museum of Ireland Prehistory and Europe objects in the British Museum Irish art Ancient art in metal

Discovery

Description

See also

References

Bibliography