Sword found on beach

Quowra

Hi everyone,

We found what looks to be a sword on a beach in Donegal. I was hoping to see if anybody here would have any ideas about it.

I am new here so the site wont let me post any photos. Does anybody know of a good place to go for some advice about it?

Uncle Ben

Quowra wrote: »

Hi everyone,

We found what looks to be a sword on a beach in Donegal. I was hoping to see if anybody here would have any ideas about it.

I am new here so the site wont let me post any photos. Does anybody know of a good place to go for some advice about it?

Read an article before and it said the OPW were the people to call or the Garda if out of hours. Hope you weren't using a metal detector, it's against the law!!

TOMP

Uncle Ben wrote: »

Read an article before and it said the OPW were the people to call or the Garda if out of hours. Hope you weren't using a metal detector, it's against the law!!

Not necessarily. If for example, he was using a metal detector to look for a wedding ring that he had previously lost then if would be totally legal.

Quowra

Uncle Ben wrote: »

Read an article before and it said the OPW were the people to call or the Garda if out of hours. Hope you weren't using a metal detector, it's against the law!!

I'm not sure if my last reply went through. We were out walking ont he beach and saw it lying in with some rocks. Thanks for the info.

Uncle Ben

TOMP wrote: »

Not necessarily. If for example, he was using a metal detector to look for a wedding ring that he had previously lost then if would be totally legal.

I wasnt sure in regards to that, I had read that it was alright to use a detector in the UK, however it was outlawed over here. Thanks.

robp

TOMP wrote: »

Not necessarily. If for example, he was using a metal detector to look for a wedding ring that he had previously lost then if would be totally legal.

Nope as technically a wedding ring can be termed an archaeological object. There is no defined cut off point. The past is yesterday as well as centuries back.

Reader1937

You could have a look at archaeology.ie and see if there are any sites close to where you found it. Someone here will know about offshore wreck sites and how to find them - which may be more helpful again. Not sure on the restrictions on photos - what are they?

bawn79

Maybe put some photos up on imgur and post a link here then.

mocmo

Call the National Museum of Ireland straight away, you want the Kildare Street branch. If it is a genuine archaeological artefact it belongs to the state (National Museum) and you will get a reward for the discovery

It sounds like a very interesting find, lots of people on this forum will be looking forward to hearing more about it

http://www.museum.ie/en/list/contact-us-archaeology-ethnography.aspx

mocmo

Also what kind of condition is it in and have you any idea what type of metal it is? You found it on rocks on a beach, so may I assume it was somewhat damp? Be careful with it, try to avoid it drying out too much and if possible keep it somewhere relatively cool.

Quowra

Reader1937 wrote: »

You could have a look at archaeology.ie and see if there are any sites close to where you found it. Someone here will know about offshore wreck sites and how to find them - which may be more helpful again. Not sure on the restrictions on photos - what are they?

Thanks for your advice. I checked out the restrictions on photo's and you need to have already had 50 posts on here. I opened up an account long ago but only posted a couple of times.

I will check out archaeology.ie thanks.

DeepSleeper

Quowra wrote: »

Thanks for your advice. I checked out the restrictions on photo's and you need to have already had 50 posts on here. I opened up an account long ago but only posted a couple of times.

I will check out archaeology.ie thanks.

archaeology.ie is a website run by the National Monuments Service, which isn't quite what you need.

You must report this discovery to the Duty Officer of the Irish Antiquities Division of the National Museum of Ireland very quickly - their number is 01 6777444 - call them first thing Monday morning and ask to speak to "the Duty Officer, Irish Antiquities".

I don't want to appear to be hard on you here - I'm simply trying to let you see that there is a legal framework in which the discovery of archaeological artefacts is treated -the legal basis for this is found in below -

Section 19 of the National Monuments (Amendment Act) 1994 states:

Amendment of section 23 of Principal Act.

19.—Section 23 (as amended by the National Monuments (Amendment) Acts, 1954 and 1987) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution therefor of the following section:

“Report of discovery of archaeological object.

23. (1) Where a person finds an archaeological object he shall not remove or otherwise interfere with it unless he has reasonable cause to believe that it is necessary to remove it so as to preserve it or keep it safe.

(2) A person who finds an archaeological object and who has reasonable cause to believe that it is necessary to remove it so as to preserve it or to keep it safe shall remove it to a designated place or any safe place if there is no designated place within 30 miles of its place of discovery.

(3) A person who finds an archaeological object shall report the finding of the object to the Director or a designated person within a reasonable period but not longer than 96 hours from the time of the finding.

(4) Where a person reports the finding of an archaeological object he shall be furnished by the Director or a designated person with a prescribed form and in reporting the find he shall state his name and address, the nature and character of the object found, and a description of the location of the place where the object was found and, if relevant, the address of the designated place or other safe place to which the object has been delivered and specify where the object may be inspected by the Director or a designated person.

(5) A person making a report under subsection (3) of this section shall provide such other information within his knowledge concerning the object or its finding as may be requested by the Director or a designated person.

(6) It shall be the duty of the person who has found an archaeological object, on being furnished with a prescribed form, and in any case no later than seven days by personal delivery or by pre-paid registered post, to complete and return it promptly to the Director.

(7) The Minister may by regulations prescribe the form to be completed under this section and, without prejudice to the generality of the aforesaid, such regulations may provide for ascertaining—

(a) the name and address of the person who has found the object concerned,
(b) the time at which the object was found,
(c) the circumstances of the finding of the object,
(d) the exact location of the place where the object was found,
and
(e) the name of the owner or the occupier of the land on which the object was found, if such name can be established following reasonable inquiries.

(8) Every person who finds an archaeological object and—
(a) disturbs unnecessarily or damages the object,
(b) fails to make a report of finding the object in accordance with this section,
(c) wilfully withholds information concerning the find, or
(d) fails within the period specified in subsection (6) of this section to return the prescribed form to the Director, or
(e) makes under this section a report of a find that is to his knowledge false or misleading in any material respect, or
(f) in contravention of this section fails or refuses to give to a Director or a designated person information within his knowledge in relation to the finding of an archaeological object, or
(g) gives to the Director or a designated person information in relation to such archaeological object or the finding thereof which is to his knowledge false or misleading in any material respect,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—
(i) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or to a period of imprisonment not exceeding 12 months, or to both such fine and imprisonment, or
(ii) on conviction on indictment to a fine of £50,000 or a term of imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(9) This section shall not apply to any person who discovers an archaeological object under and in pursuance of a licence issued in that behalf under section 26 of the Principal Act or a person exempt from having such a licence.”.

Reoil

Why not upload photos to imgur.com and post the link here?

slowburner

Reoil wrote: »

Why not upload photos to imgur.com and post the link here?

Posters with fewer than fifty posts can't post links or images.
There are sound reasons for this Boards policy that are not for discussion here and it is out of mods' hands.

Reoil

slowburner wrote: »

Posters with fewer than fifty posts can't post links or images.

Ah, thought it was just images.
Quowra, upload the photos and PM me the link and I'll post it.

my3cents

Is it OK to suggest this is a wind up?

The sword wasn't sticking out of a stone by any chance?

Dtp1979

my3cents wrote: »

Is it OK to suggest this is a wind up?

The sword wasn't sticking out of a stone by any chance?

If it was a wind up itd be on after hours

Reader1937

Sounds interesting, but without a photo or two it is difficult to offer anything but the most General of directions. It might look like a useless collection of mashed up lumps of corroded metal, but it might have historical value from - what it was, where it was found ( actually most important), and what proper examination might reveal. The Museum can do some amazing stuff with artefacts. Archaeology is sometimes one massive "who dunnit" and it can be an amazing experience to be swept up in the process. Hope you can post a link to some pictures here and thank you for bringing it up on Boards.

Dtp1979

Op just go and post 50 random posts in some forums. It'd take 5 mins

RozDev

Good idea...just trying to get to mine!

chopper6

Could be a modern sword,a reproduction,an agricultural tool...without pics it's impossible to say.

Dtp1979

chopper6 wrote: »

Could be a modern sword,a reproduction,an agricultural tool...without pics it's impossible to say.

I don't think we're ever gonna see those pics

Leo12

Did you get the sword assessed? I was at the Weather Beaten Conference in Sligo IT on Saturday and more and more newly discovered coastal finds are emerging due to increasing erosion.

Not to scare you or anything but you are legally bound to report any finds to the National Museum OR Garda within 72 hours....Have you been back to the area since as more artifacts may be there...Either way that part of coastline will have to be closely monitored in case of any other finds. New citizen science programs are being rolled out to recruit volunteers to be the eyes of the coast to report any finds/damage to existing sites etc. I know Sligo has the MASC scheme, don't know if Donegal has something similar? Good luck and let us know the outcome.

Surely a sword that had been in the sea for enough time to be archaeologically interesting would be a lump of calcified rust?

qt3.14

Deleted User wrote: »

Surely a sword that had been in the sea for enough time to be archaeologically interesting would be a lump of calcified rust?

Not necessarily. Could be recently exposed from the land rather than the seabed. Plus, would depend on the conditions the peice found itself in. The antikythera was pretty well preserved all things considered.

Reoil

Time to let this thread die?

Dr Strange

Was it embedded in a stone? Did you try to pull it out? The OP hasn't posted anymore...maybe too busy chairing the Round Table events.