Medieval Silver Coins Found in Ireland

CORK, IRELAND—The Irish Examiner reports that archaeologist Tony Miller is conducting excavations at the site of Carrignacurra Castle, a defensive tower house built on a high rock outcrop on the banks of the River Lee in southern Ireland in the late sixteenth century. “During the excavation of the ground floor, a cobbled floor was uncovered in one corner as well as a rectangular base for storage bins or a workbench against the northern wall,” Miller said. He has also found a clay pipe manufactured in Bristol, England, which may have been left behind by English troops during Oliver Cromwell’s conquest of Ireland in the seventeenth century. Pottery, animal bones, a small bone bead have also been uncovered. The unused lead musket balls that have been found may have been produced on site, he added. Two silver coins predating the construction of the tower were also recovered: a groat featuring Henry III dated to 1270, and a coin bearing the image of Edward IV dated to the 1470s. To read about a kingdom on a tiny Irish island, go to "Inside a Medieval Gaelic Castle."