The luck of the Irish: The father and son team that found the “Derrynaflan Hoard” treasure in Ireland
Armed with a metal detector, Michael Webb and his son Mike searched around an old Irish monastery in 1980 and stumbled across a fantastic find.
Treasure hunters armed only with a simple metal detector have unearthed some truly incredible finds over the years. One of those occurred in 1980 when Michael Webb and his son Mike decided to investigate a crumbling Derrynaflan monastery in County Tipperary, Ireland.
They began digging at the site when they got a strong signal from their metal detector despite the fact that they were violating the National Monuments Act of 1930. What they uncovered would become known as the “Derrynaflan Hoard.”
Unearthing the Derrynaflan Hoard: “I realized it was something very special”
The Webbs first unearthed a bronze basin below which they discovered a copper-alloy strainer, silver chalice and paten both of which had goldwork on them and other decorative features. These altar vessel objects were from between the 8th and 9th centuries AD and used for communion ceremonies.
“The goldwork, even then stood out remarkably well. It was beautiful,” Micheal said at the time. “I realized it was something very special.”
This weekend marks the 40th anniversary of the discovery of the Derrynaflan hoard-chalice, paten, strainer & basin.This find changed our understanding of early medieval metalwork in Ireland & the law on unregulated use of metal detectors. If you name the ‘famous 5’ - full marks! pic.twitter.com/PNV6cSfei8
— Mary Cahill (@au_ireland) February 13, 2020
The Derrynaflan Chalice is comparable to the Ardagh Chalice, which was found as part of a hoard in 1868 in County Limerick, “though it is generally considered to be less elegant,” states the National Museum of Ireland. The roughly 7.6-inch tall vessel has a diameter of 8.3 inches and is made of beaten silver that was lathe-polished.
The handles on either side are attached to the bowl with a gold filigree band. That in turn has images of animals and beast heads. The chalice is also decorated with 54 amber stones.
The paten, or plate used for holding the bread during the Eucharist, is 14.6 inches in diameter made of beaten silver and has a silver wire mesh trim. It also is decorated with red, blue and yellow enameled studs and gold wire on the panels that form zoomorphic images.
It is not known why the objects were buried, but it is speculated that it was done to protect the items from Viking raids that were occurring during that period of time in Ireland.
Webbs’ legal fight to get reward for finding Derrynaflan Hoard
Originally the Webbs keep their discovery a secret but after a few weeks contacted the National Museum of Ireland. They were initially offered a $15,000 reward but turned that down requesting $7.5 million according to World History Encyclopedia.
The standoff resulted in several court cases to determine who the rightful owner was and the value of the collection. The matter was finally settled in 1987 by the Irish Supreme Court which ruled that the hoard belonged to the state, and it was put on display at the National Museum of Archaeology in Dublin.
The Webbs were still compensated for their discover but only given $75,000.
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