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The Shield

The Lough Gur shield is a Yetholm-type shield. It is a distinctive type of shield dating from 1200-800 BC (Bronze Age).

Found by Charles and Nicholas Hayes the Lough Gur Shield was sold for just two pounds. Just enough to by a one way ticket to the States for Charles Hayes.Local legend tells us that the two boys were working by Teampall Nua with their sickles and scyths when a loud din was heard from the ground. With another swing of the sickle the loud din was heard again. The boys quickly unearthed the Bronze Shield with great joy. The lucky man who bought it was a well know historian called Maurice Lenihan who later sold it for sixty pounds. The original shield is on display in the National Museum of Ireland located in Dublin. The one on display in Lough Gur Visitor Centre is a replica that was created by the Kilkenny Design Centre over 30 years ago.

The yetholm shields come from Britain and Ireland in general. Their modern name comes from Yetholm in southern Scotland where a peat bog yielded three examples. Twenty two examples are known, although some of these are fragmentary, and a further seven or eight are known from written sources but are lost today. The shields vary significantly in size, but in detail are similar.

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