The discovery of a cannonball in a secret chamber in Dingle in County Kerry has left archaeologists baffled.
It is thought the cannonball, found in the wall of an old house in Dingle, could date from the medieval period. However its origins remain a mystery.
Mary McCarthy was doing a spot of gardening when she discovered a metal sphere in the old wall of a garden. Unsure what it was at first, she discovered it was a cannonball. Owner of the house and garden where the discovery was made, Lorcán Slattery, believes that the chamber in the wall was purpose built to hold the cannonball.
It was definitely built to conceal something.
The origins of the cannonball remain a mystery but some believe that it may be associated with Spanish merchants who lived in Dingle during the medieval period. Others speculate that it has a connection with the French Revolution.
Archaeologists are baffled.
Isabel Bennett, archaeologist and curator at the Múseum Chorca Dhuibhne, says that it is most unusual to find a cannonball hidden in a wall. They are usually discovered out in former battlefields. She says that it must have been significant for somebody to have hidden away a cannonball is no use without a cannon.
Lorcán Slattery has offered to donate the cannonball to the local museum and has plans to search the area for more hidden treasures.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 1 June 2018. The reporter is Seán Mac an tSíthigh.
