Discovery of 800 year old Irish Brooch with mysterious Gothic inscription

As a man walked along the seashore at Cluais Mhór, in west Kerry Ireland in 2016, he found an object glistening amongst the stones. It turned out to be an 800 year old gold brooch, with a small semi-precious blue tourmaline stone, a dagger-like pin and inscribed with Gothic lettering. He subsequently reported the find to the National Museum of Ireland.

How the 13th century brooch came to be on the seashore remains a mystery. Archaeologists have speculated it may have been uncovered by erosion of the land above, or perhaps dropped by a bird, it is unlikely we will ever know why the brooch decided to reveal itself. Just as mysterious is the Gothic inscription which is has yet to be deciphered, even though most of the letters are legible. Their meaning is unclear and could be a type of code, which archaeologists suggest may have had a magical or talismanic association for the wearer.

The brooch will be on short-term loan to Músaem Chorca Dhuibhne, Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, close to where it was found, and will be on display on Friday and Saturday, October 5 and 6, 2018. After which it will return to the National Museum of Ireland, where it will be displayed in an exhibition entitled “Dressed to Impress” at the National Museum of Archaeology in Kildare Street, Dublin.