Fig. 169 shows a finely patinated celt, with a triple moulding below the expanding mouth, which was found near Belfast. With it are said to have been found a set of three gold clasps, or so-called fibulæ, with discs at each end of a slug-like half-ring (see Wilde, Figs. 594-598). Curiously enough, I have another set of three of these ornaments, also found together at Craighilly, near Ballymena, Co. Antrim. Mr. Robert Day, F.S.A., has a specimen which also is one of three found together in the Co. Down. It seems, therefore, probable that, like our modern shirt-studs, these ornaments were worn in sets of three.
Fig. 169.—Belfast. ½ – Fig. 170.—Ireland. ½ – Fig. 171.—Ireland. ½
A celt with four hands (3½ inches) has been engraved by Wilde.[505] The middle member of the triple band is often much the largest.
A small example of the same type, but with a single band at the mouth, is shown in Fig. 170. One from Co. Antrim, 1⅝ inch long and 1¼ inch broad at the edge, is in the British Museum.
These oval-necked celts are occasionally, but rarely, decorated with patterns cast in relief upon them. One of them, in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy,[506] is shown in Fig. 171.
Inside the sockets of most of the instruments of this class there are near the bottom, where the two sides converge, one, two, or more vertical ridges, probably destined to aid in steadying the haft.
In some instances the upper member of the moulding round the mouth is cast in a cable pattern. Fig. 172 shows an example of this kind from Athboy, Co. Meath, in the collection of Canon Greenwell, F.R.S. Others are in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy.
Socketed celts, with vertical ribs on the faces, are of rare occurrence in Ireland. A specimen from Co. Meath, in Canon Greenwell’s collection, is engraved as Fig. 173.
One (2⅝ inches) found near Cork, and now in Mr. Robert Day’s collection, has six vertical ribs on each face, three on either margin. They are placed close together, and vary in length, the outer one being about twice as long as that in the middle, which is, however, nearly three times as long as the innermost of the three ribs.