A picture posted online by the national museum of a valuable gold, diamond shaped ring dating back to the 12th century brought memories flooding back for a local man this week.
James Wykes originally from Cedarwood Park but now living in Ravensdale was just eleven years of age when he and his father (James Snr) discovered the medieval gold finger ring while using a metal detector in a field beside Cuchulainn’s Castle back in 1984. According to James he had almost forgotten about the valuable find but memories came flooding back recently when a picture of the ring was posted online by the National Museum of Ireland.
“To be honest I had all but forgotten about finding that ring and when I saw the picture of it I was immediately transported back to that field beside Cuchulainn’s Castle where I found it using my metal detector,” recalls James. “The ring was probably only about three inches under the ground and when we found it my Dad took it home and put it in a drawer as he had no idea how valuable or precious it was at the time.
“It probably lay in that drawer for the guts of a year until one day Dad decided to give it to a friend he knew who worked in Midas jewellers to see if it was worth anything. When the guy in the jewellers saw it he knew straight away it wasn’t fake and told Dad that because the gold was so old he would have to give it to an expert he knew who worked in the National Museum.
“Dad went back to the jewellers about three weeks later and was told that it dated back to the 12th or 13th century and probably belonged to a very wealthy man like a bishop at the time. He never saw the ring again as the National Museum took ownership of it as it was deemed property of the state. I know that there used to be a museum at Byrnes Folly beside the mount up there which was destroyed in a fire maybe a hundred years ago and I’m guessing some of the valuable jewellery stored in the museum must have been thrown out with the ashes of the rubble,” explains James.
“Dad ended up getting a finders fee of £100 finders fee for it and we were told that the ring was worth £2.3m. When all this covid stuff is over I plan on bringing my wife and daughter up to the museum in Dublin to have a look at the ring again. I would prefer if it was in the Dundalk museum but I don’t think that will ever happen,” he added.
When asked to comment on that precious discovery by James back in 1984 the National Museum confirmed that the ring most likely dated back to the 12th or 13th century but added that the gem inside the ring dated back much earlier going back to the 3rd or 4th century.
“This was a gold finger ring found at Castletown Mount, Co. Louth. It probably dates back to the 12th / 13th Century AD. This tiered filigreed ring with diamond-shaped bezel belonged to someone of the highest rank and its sunken cells were originally set with red glass. Its value was enhanced by being set with an antique gem of red stone showing a running hare. Castletown Mount was the headquarters of the de Veduns, the pre-eminent Anglo-Norman family of Co. Louth. The stone at the centre of the ring is much earlier in date. It is of Roman origin – 3rd of 4th century A.D. – and was re-used to form the centrepiece of the ring,” stated the duty officer at the National Museum.
The duty officer went on to stress that a discovery like this using a metal detector could not happen today as the legislative situation around such discoveries is now very different to that which was in place in 1984.
“The legislation pertaining to the use of metal detection devices has changed considerably since 1984, with the 1987 amendment to the National Monuments Act 1930 to 2014 making it illegal to search for archaeological objects without the relevant consent (from the National Monuments Service).
“Under current legislation, the possession of a detection device at or in the vicinity of a recorded monument is an offence, and therefore it is very important that the public is fully aware that the recovery of any archaeological object such as that under discussion here, at any recorded site such as Castletown Motte, is today an offence under the terms of the National Monuments Act 1930 to 2014,” explained the duty officer.
