| Interestingly enough, a similar story as in Wales happened in
Cois Fharrige section of Galway Ireland (near Spiddle) but with
a more devastating outcome.
My friend's grandfather's two brothers were playing with a WWI mine
that had washed up along the shore. Oftentimes, along Galway shores,
various flotsam would arrive due to currents and the trade routes.
Wood, crates of food, etc. were some of the treasures with which Galway
children would play.
Many children were playing with the huge German mine when it detonated from
someone hitting it with a plank. Twelve children were killed including
Padraig O'Laoi (O'Lee) and Eamonn O'Laoi, two of my friend's relatives.
Walking to the end of a boreen one can find a statue commemorating
the misfortune which occurred around 1920. A full account of the
story is also told in an Irish story, whose name escapes me.
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| Associated Press Wed 10-DEC-1986 18:33 Ireland-Treasure
Judge Orders Museum to Give Finder Treasure or Money
DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - A judge ordered Ireland's National Museum
on Wednesday to hand over an early Christian treasure to the
businessman who found it or pay him its value of $7.55 million.
Finder Michael Webb of Clonmel, County Tipperary, could take the
treasure or the money, said Judge John Blayney of the Dublin High
Court.
``I am absolutely delighted but I haven't yet decided which
option to take,'' said Webb, 58, who found the gold and silver
altar vessels with a metal detector February 1980 on the site of a
national monument.
He turned them over to the state-run museum and was later
offered $13,043 by the government.
Dissatisfied with the sum, Webb went to court to contest the
museum's right to keep the treasure.
``I wouldn't say the decision was unexpected. It shows that
honesty finally pays,'' he said.
Museum director Brendan O'Riordan called the judgment ``absurd''
and said, ``We will challenge it in the highest court in the land.''
``The judgment means that anyone who trespasses on someone
Associated Press Wed 10-DEC-1986 18:33 Ireland-Treasure (cont'd)
else's land and unlawfully excavates on an archaeological site
should be compensated for what they find,'' O'Riordan said.
The appeal is expected to be heard in January and the museum
meanwhile will keep the treasure.
The vessels - a jewel-studded chalice, a communion plate, wine
strainer and basin - were 9 inches below ground when Webb found
them, close to the ruins of a 5th century church at Littleton Bog
near Clonmel.
During the hearing, an expert from Sotheby's art auctioneers
valued the find at between $6.8 million and $10.9 million.
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| Leaprechauns are pissed off at the short-sightedness.
I was living in Clonmel at the time of the discovery. The Derrynaflan
hoarde is the sigle most important archeological discovery of this
century. It was also a very happy accident, in that if it were deeper
in the ground it would still be there. I understand that the National
Museum offered $150,000 (approx.) to the finder, but the government
(whom I've always known to be weird), stipulated that $13,000 was
the legal maximum. I also beleive that the finder would've accepted
the museum's offer. However there are other side effects of this
court decision.
The court's decision is not that the finder OWN's the treasure,
but that he has established "BETTER TITLE" to it than the museum
has.
THe following points are important :
1. The finder did not own the property on which the find was made.
2. He could have possibly been trespassing on the property without
the landowner's knowledge at the time.
3. There were two landowner's involved (I don't know why), and both
have received and accepted $33,000 each from the museum by way
of compensation.
4. The landowner's did not claim the hoarde as their property, (which
they are/were entitled to do so). They might now be disbarred
from doing so (statute of limitations etc.).
They way is now open for metal detector freaks to wreak havoc on
ancient sites.
Snake is not happy.
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