Golden Bog of Cullen

The Golden Bog is located 650 metres (0.40 mi) southwest of Cullen, County Tipperary, 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) east of Longstone Rath. This was part of the ancient Gaelic territory of Uí Cuanach (Coonagh).

The earliest recorded find dates to 1731, a two-gallon (9-litre) brass vessel with four legs.

In 1744, a Limerick jeweller bought from a Cullen shopkeeper a gold crown weighing 6 troy ounces (190 g); the metal was of a very high purity.

Objects found on the site included 300 brass swords, a golden cone (described as "the breast of a wooden idol"), bars of pure gold, and gold gorgets.[2][3]

As most of the items were discovered before modern methods of preservation and collection of ancient artefacts, the objects were generally sold to goldsmiths for their bullion value. Only one gold item is known to survive, a dress-fastener or terminal, currently held at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.[4]

Eugene O'Curry speculated that the Bog was originally a wooded valley, used by goldsmiths due to its proximity to sources of wood for charcoal, as well as possibly a goldmine. He connected it with the ancient Cerdraigi, a Gaelic tribe whose name derives from cerd, an Old Irish term for a skilled craftsman, especially a worker in gold and silver.[5] He also note the townland of Ballynagard located 5 miles (8.0 km) to the west: in Irish Baile na gCeard, "settlement of the goldsmiths."[6][7]

Their placement in the bog is possibly a form of ritual deposition.[4] The culture that produced and deposited these items is thought to date to c. 2000–400 BC, during the Atlantic Bronze Age.[8]

• Wetland deposits in Scandinavia
• Irish gold