CHAPTER VIII
Torcs
There are twenty-four golden torcs of various types in the National Collection and one of bronze; but the Irish provenance of the latter is doubtful.
The best known are the two magnificent gold torcs found in the side of one of the raths at Tara, and these belong to a type that has been found in England and France, of which the best known examples are those found at Yeovil, Somerset,[28] and Grunty Fen, Cambridge.[29] A torc of this type was also found by Schliemann in the royal treasury in the second city of Troy. This find has led to a good deal of speculative opinions varying as to whether the model of the torc was imported into Ireland from the south, or whether the Irish gold could have reached the Mediterranean in pre-Mycenæan times.[30] Torcs of this type were made by folding two thin ribbons of gold along the middle at a right angle; they were then attached with some kind of resinous flux, apex to apex, and twisted together. In some cases, instead of two folded ribbons a flat one and two halves of another were used, after being fastened together, the twisting being done in the same way. In some of the Irish examples the body of the torc is plain, or was grooved to simulate the appearance of the twisted torc. A peculiar feature of these torcs is the large hooks with which they are provided. It must be noted that whereas twisted torcs of bronze are fairly common in England and France there is only one bronze torc in the Irish National Collection, and, as mentioned above, the provenance of this is doubtful. The dating of these twisted torcs is a matter of difficulty, as there are only two instances of their having been found in association with bronze objects, one in the case of the Grunty Fen torc which was discovered with three bronze palstaves, and another found at Fresné la Mère, near Falaise, Normandy, which was found with a bronze razor and other objects of bronze. Such evidence as exists, therefore, would place them in the late Bronze Age, probably somewhere about 1000 b.c., but certain varieties of torcs, as we shall see, continued in use as late as the first century. The area of distribution of gold torcs of the Tara type in Ireland, England and France is very limited, none having been found in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Holland, or Spain and Portugal.[31] It has been suggested that the gold of which all these torcs were composed came from the Wicklow Mountains,[32] and in view of the extreme wealth of Ireland in gold, as evinced by the number of gold ornaments which are still constantly found, this may be considered probable.
Plate VII.
Gold Torcs from Tara and elsewhere.
p. [78].
Plate VIII.
Gold Torcs.
p. [78].
Among the other types of gold torcs are two splendid examples, one of which appears to have been prepared for twisting and left unfinished, while the other is in a complete state ([Plate VIII]).
Small torcs made by twisting a plain ribbon are fairly common, and some of these are so small that they must have been used as bracelets.
In later times the torc was the distinguishing ornament of the Celt, and there are many allusions to torcs in classical writers. In 223 b.c., when Flaminius Nepos gained his victory over the Gauls on the Addua, it is related that instead of the Gauls dedicating, as they had intended, a torc made from the Roman spoils to their god of war, the Romans erected a Roman trophy to Jupiter made from Gaulish torcs.
The name of the Torquati, a family of the Manlia Gens, was derived from their ancestor, T. Manlius, who, having slain a gigantic Gaul in b.c. 361, took the torc from the dead body, and placed it round his neck.
The famous statue of the Dying Gaul preserved in the Capitol at Rome shows a torc on the warrior’s neck. This is one of a series of statues set up by the Greeks of Pergamos to celebrate their struggle with, and first victory over, the Gauls of Asia Minor, with whom they came in contact from about 240 to 160 b.c. The twisted torc appears to have been replaced in Ireland about the second century b.c. by the plain torc, which was probably introduced from Gaul. The fine gold torc from Clonmacnois ([Plate IX]), with La Tène decoration, is a good example of these torcs, and is almost identical with one from the Marne district now preserved in the St. Germain Museum. Probably the finest La Tène torc in existence is that found in the celebrated Broighter find, which is richly decorated with La Tène ornament ([Plate IX], the inner torc).
CHAPTER IX
Bronze-Age Finds
Plate IX.
Gold Torcs from Clonmacnois and Broighter.
p. [80].
One of the greatest difficulties to be contended with in any attempt to arrive at a working chronology for the Prehistoric Period in Ireland is that, though Ireland had a rich Bronze Age, as attested by the magnificent collection of objects preserved in the National Collection, yet in very few cases have any of these objects been found in association. Excavation carried on under scientific supervision was practically unknown in Ireland until quite recent years, and though, no doubt, hoards of associated objects have been discovered in the country, yet trustworthy particulars as to their finding have hardly ever been preserved, and the objects themselves have generally been scattered. Under these circumstances it seemed useful to gather together in the present chapter an account of the finds—unfortunately very few—in which associated objects have been discovered, and of which there is indisputable evidence of their association:—
1. Find of a socketed celt, a gouge, a pin, a razor (the last in a simple leather case), a portion of a woollen garment, an ornament of horse-hair, like a tassel, and some pieces of wood. These objects were found in a bog in the townland of Cromaghs, parish of Armoy, Co. Antrim, in May, 1904, when cutting turf[33] (Fig. [71], nos. 1-5).
2. A find of late Bronze-Age objects discovered in a bog in the townland of Lahardoun, Tulla, Co. Clare, in May, 1861. The find contained the following objects:—two small socketed celts, a disk-headed pin, a plain bronze ring, and a bronze fibula[34] (Fig. [71], nos. 6-10).
3. Find at Mountrivers, Rylane, Coachford, Co. Cork. This find was made in May, 1907, and contained the following objects:—two socketed bronze celts, two gold fibulæ, one fibula of copper or bronze, and eleven amber beads[35] (fig. [62]).
4. Find at Kilfeakle, Co. Tipperary, made in May, 1906, The find consisted of a bronze socketed celt, a socketed sickle, two chisels, and a gouge[36] (fig. [74]).
5. Find of moulds for casting primitive spear-heads. This find was made near Omagh, Co. Tyrone, about 1882, and consisted of seven blocks of sandstone for casting tanged and socketed spear-heads.[37] (See page [39].)
6. Find of moulds made in December, 1910, at Killymeddy, Ballymoney, Co. Antrim. The find contained two complete moulds for casting looped socketed spear-heads, and half a mould for a looped socketed spear-head, a mould for one side of a long dagger-blade, a large mould for casting one side of a leaf-shaped knife, two halves of a mould for casting a sickle, eight fragments of moulds, two sharpening stones, and a stone for hammering or smoothing objects.[38] (See page [40].)
7. Find made at Tempo, Co. Fermanagh. This find was made in 1912, and consisted of two leaf-shaped bronze swords with notches below the blades, and a very fine socketed spear-head[39] (figs. [65] and [37]).
8. Two leaf-shaped spear-heads found together at the Ford, Belturbet, Co. Cavan[40] (fig. [30]).
9. Large hoard found at Dowris, King’s Co., about 1825. A small portion of this hoard, consisting of two bronze trumpets, seven crotals, five socketed spear-heads, and a socketed gouge, are preserved in the Royal Irish Academy’s collection in the National Museum. There are other portions of this hoard in the British Museum and at Birr Castle.[41]
10. Bronze socketed celt, large bronze ring, two smaller rings with lateral-shaped trumpet projections, and a small flat ring all found together near Glenstal, Co. Limerick, about 1901.
11. Large find of objects, formerly in St. Columba’s College Collection, all stated to have been found together, in 1830, in a bog at Derryhall, County Antrim. The find comprises fourteen disk-headed bronze pins of late Bronze-Age type, and two bronze pins, with cup-shaped heads, a bronze dagger and two bronze knives (one of the latter being socketed), a socketed celt, nine bronze rings, a bronze ring with side perforations and a double ring, a bronze fibula with three beads; also two late brooches, and two late pins, which are said to have proved part of this find, but whose association with the remaining objects is very doubtful.
Fig. 71.—Two Late Bronze-Age Finds.
Fig. 72.—Late Bronze-Age horse-hair Fabrics from Armoy, Co. Antrim.
12. Bronze fibula, and twenty-two bronze rings, found together, about 1876, at Broca, Rochford Bridge, County Westmeath.
13. Socketed bronze celt, bronze fibula, bronze ring, and disk-headed Bronze-Age pin. All found together at Lapoudin, Tulla, County Clare.
14. Three large, seventeen small, eight double bronze rings, and one fragment, probably all found together.
15. Bronze fibula, bronze gouge, and three rings, found together, but locality unrecorded.
16. Six copper celts found together at Cappeen, County Cork.
Fig. 73.—Bronze Implements, Co. Tipperary.
17. Seven halberds found together at Hillswood, County Galway.[42]
18. Two bronze rings, a small leaf-shaped spear-head, a socketed celt, and a small gold bulla, said to have been found together in Kinnegoe bog, County Armagh, in 1840. St. Columba’s College Collection.
19. Three bronze trumpets, one in two parts, found in a bog in the barony of Moyarta, County Clare.
20. Six bronze trumpets, one in two parts, found in a bog close to Chute Hall, in the townland of Clogher, Clemin, three miles from Tralee, County Kerry.
21. Two trumpets, one in two parts, probably found together in a bog at Carrick O’Gunnell, County Limerick. (These are probably two of those described by Mr. R. Ousley, in the Trans. R.I.A., 1788.)
Fig. 74.—Bronze Implements found at Kilfeakle, Co. Tipperary.
22. Three trumpets found at Carraconway, near Cloughouter Castle, County Cavan.[43]
23. Two trumpets found at Macroom, County Cork.
24. Four trumpets found in the bog of Drumabest, Kilraughts, County Antrim, in 1840.[44]
25. Two trumpets found in County Cork. (Londesborough collection.)
26. Two trumpets and a part of a third found together, but locality unknown.
27. Two trumpets probably found together, from Trinity College, Dublin, collection.
28. A socketed bronze celt and gold ring-money found together near Belfast.[45]
29. Four gold lunulæ, found together at Dunfierth, Carbury, County Kildare.[46]
30. A large spear-head, a round bronze shield, with a central boss for the hand, and two circles of smaller bosses, found in a mound or rath, at Athenry, County Galway.[47]
With the exception of Nos. 4, 5, 27, and 30, the above-mentioned finds are preserved in the Royal Irish Academy’s collection, in the National Museum, Dublin.