Dowris Hoard

The Dowris Hoard was accidentally discovered in the 1820s by two men digging trenches for potatoes on a peat bog near the shores of Lough Coura. During the Bronze Age, the area was covered by a shallow lake, which later silted up in the late Middle Ages. Dowris (also known as Doorosheath or Duros) is located near the village of Whigsborough, northeast of Birr in County Offaly, Ireland. The hoard subsequently came into the possession of William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse and TD Cooke. The latter sold his collection of Irish antiquities to the British Museum in 1854. ==Description==

One of the largest Bronze Age assemblage of artefacts ever found in Ireland, the Dowris Hoard originally comprised more than 200 pieces, of which 111 are currently in the collections of the National Museum of Ireland and 79 in the British Museum. In total, the hoard includes: • 44 spearheads • 48 crotals, in two sizes • 43 socketed axes • 26 bronze horns or trumpets • 5 swords (approx 48 cm long, possibly originating from the south of England) • A riveted bronze cauldron • Three buckets or situlae • Numerous tools including chisels and knives. ==See also==