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Co Westmeath farmer ‘shocked’ when Bronze Age axe heads found on his land

Coralstown native reveals location beneath ‘huge beech trees’ where ‘there would have been ancient forts’

The axe heads packed in foam inside a porridge box on arrival at the National Museum of Ireland.
The axe heads packed in foam inside a porridge box on arrival at the National Museum of Ireland.
Robert Kindregan
Thu Jul 25 2024 - 06:00

A Co Westmeath farmer was “shocked” to discover that two 4,000-year-old Bronze Age axe heads which have triggered an international media storm were found on his land.

The heads were sent anonymously to the National Museum of Ireland in a porridge box at the end of June, accompanied by a letter stating they were discovered in Westmeath using a metal detector.

Describing the discovery as “significant” and “exciting,” the museum appealed for the sender to come forward. It emphasised that the find’s exact location was necessary to understand the axes’ use, which could range from “ritualistic to supernatural” reasons.

The unique discovery sparked considerable public interest, with the story picked up by the likes of the New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, and BBC, among others.

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Thomas Dunne, a farmer from Coralstown, has now revealed the heads were found by chance on his silage field at Banagher.

“I was cutting silage one day and a bit of metal fell off a mower,” he said.

“We started looking for it then because we thought it might go into the silage harvester and break it up. So, I got a man in with a metal detector to look for it and that’s how it was found. It was in the side of a field underneath a row of huge beech trees; there would have been ancient forts on the land around here. I didn’t even know it was found at the time and he thought it might have been an old horseshoe or something like that, but he sent it off anyway to the museum.”

[ National Museum of Ireland appeals for information on Bronze Age axeheads sent anonymously ]

Mr Dunne said he was shocked to learn the significant find was made on his land.

“I only found out about it a week after it had been in the news and I was surprised to say the least; it’s absolutely mad when you think about it,” he said.

The farmer has since contacted the museum and met their researchers at the discovery point, which has been logged and will provide more information as to the axes’ origin.

“They’re horrid happy over this whole discovery,” said Mr Dunne.

“This field is for cutting silage for beef cattle. We’re trying to get them fat this time of year, but it’s not a great year for it. The land has been in our family for the last 40 years; we bought it in 1983 from another farmer who had retired. It would make you think what was going on around here over the years, like these [axe heads] are 4,000 years old.”