DUBLIN, IRELAND—The Irish Times reports that workers installing an elevator shaft at Rathfarnham Castle found a cache of seventeenth-century artifacts sealed between two stone floors at the bottom of one of the castle towers. The damp environment yielded well preserved objects, including a foldable toothbrush, clay pipes, jewelry, porcelain, coins, chamber pots, an intact drinking glass and early wine bottles, ointment jars, and a stoppered perfume bottle. “Most of the material here was imported. The family had a lot of contacts with the royal courts in England so they would have gone to London, seen the fashion, and brought it all back to show off to all of their neighbors and friends,” said Alva MacGowan, find supervisor with Archaeology Plan. Food remains indicate that the family, the descendants of Lord Adam Loftus, who built the castle in 1583, enjoyed shellfish, cherries, apricots, peaches, and tea leaves. “Tea was only introduced in England in 1650. They correspond with the porcelain tea sets imported from China. The family were importing high luxury goods from all over the world, which shows Ireland wasn’t as cut off and unfashionable as we might think,” MacGowan added.
