21/08/2026
For this Ulster Finds Friday, we will be looking at the lunulae of County Cavan!
Lunulae (singular โlunulaโ) are crescent moon-shaped types of ornaments worn around the neck (referred to as necklaces, collars or pectorals). They are commonly made of gold and can date from the late Neolithic, Chalcolithic and early Bronze Age periods. They are flat, thin sheets of hammered gold, with roundish spatulate or quadrangular terminals (sometimes called โhornsโ) twisted anywhere from 45 to 90 degrees away from the body. The lunulae are commonly decorated with various lines, shapes and motifs.
There have been more than 100 gold lunulae found across Western Europe, with 80 of those found on the island of Ireland. According to archaeologists, there are 3 distinct groups: Classical, Unaccomplished and Provincial.
โข Classical: these lunulae are on average the widest, heaviest and thinnest of the 3 groups. They are thin enough to be flexibly worn and are decorated, with the incised decoration often appearing as reliefs on their undersides. They are up to 3 times thicker on the inner edge than the middle and twice as thick on the outer edge. They are almost all found in Ireland.
โข Unaccomplished: these lunulae are similar to Classical lunulae in their range of design motifs, but are narrower and less skilfully made, with a small number being undecorated. All of the recorded Unaccomplished lunulae have been found in Ireland.
โข Provincial: all but one of these lunulae have been found outside of Ireland. These lunulae are thicker and more rigid. Their decorations are more varied and divided into two groups: โdot-lineโ decorations (with punches) found in Scotland and Wales, and โlinearโ decorations found in Belgium, Cornwall, Ireland and northern Germany. Franceโs northern coast has both types of Provincial lunulae.
Four of these 80 Irish lunulae were found in County Cavan (Image 1, lunulae 6-9, bottom row):
-Lunula 6 - Bailieborough: Currently in the collections of the British Museum, this Classical lunula was acquired by the British Museum in 1871 from Sir Thomas Tobin, a collector from Cork. When it was exhibited in Liverpool that year, it was described as having been found in 1856 during the draining of a field near Bailieborough. It weighs 1 oz 11 dwts 4 grains and is 218 millimetres wide.
- Lunula 7 - Lissanover: . This Classical lunula was found in 1910 during limestone quarrying. Patrick McAvinue and his son supposedly found it in a fissure in the limestone 4 to 5 feet above ground not far from a noted โGiantโs Graveโ (which may be the NMS monument CV013-047). It is held by the National Museum of Ireland, who record its height as 224 millimetres and its weight as 1 oz 14 dwts 5 grains.
- Lunula 8 - Newtown Crossdoney: This Unaccomplished lunula was found inside an alder wood box 6 feet deep within a peatbog in 1897. The box was very damp and contracted upon drying but was able to be radiocarbon-dated later on in the 20th century, producing the date range of 2460-2040 BC, making it the only independently dated lunulae from Ireland. It is held by the National Museum of Ireland, who record its width as 210 millimetres and its weight as 1 oz 2 dwt 14 grains.
- Lunula 9 โ Location unknown: The exact location within County Cavan where this Unaccomplished lunula was found is unknown, although it was listed by an antiquarian in 1912 along with the Bailieborough lunula, so it may have also been found in the same townland. In 1869, a lunula found โnear Cavanโ was recorded as being in the exact same condition and having the same missing horn as this lunula. Weighting in at 1 oz 18 dwts 11 grains with a height of 216 millimetres, it is held in the National Museum of Ireland.
If you would like to learn more about these Cavan lunulae, read the article โA REVISED LIST OF LUNULAE FROM ULSTERโ by John ร Nรฉill in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology Third Series Volume 76 (2021) pages 1-22 on JSTOR at https://www.jstor.org/stable/27135193.
Remember all UJAs up until 2022 can be read *for free* on JSTOR at https://www.jstor.org/journal/ulstjarch.
You can learn more about lunulae on the National Museum of Irelandโs website at https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Collections-Research/Irish-Antiquities-Division-Collections/Collections-List-(1)/Bronze-Age/Early-Bronze-Age.
Have a fantastic Friday!
Image 1: Figure 1, ร Nรฉill 2021 page 17
-Image 2: A Monaghan lunula held by the National Museum of Ireland, https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Collections-Research/Irish-Antiquities-Division-Collections/Collections-List-(1)/Bronze-Age/Early-Bronze-Age
-Image 3: The Blessington Lunula held by the British Museum, https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_WG-31?selectedImageId=1168956001
