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17th Century Irish Gold Stash From Time Of Conquest & Rebellion Found in Pub

2013 January 31
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by sv

Some of the gold coins that were found in foundations A hoard of gold coins dating back nearly 400 years has been found in the foundation of a Tipperary pub…and then reported to the government by the construction worker(s) who found it. The value of the 81 gold coins (hopefully for the workers’ sake there were a few more beforehand, although the Irish government could use all the help it can get against its European partners) has yet to be released, the coins date from the 1630s and early 1700s. The hoard was found in one of Carrick-on-Suir’s oldest public houses, and has been called the most significant discovery in then region in 32 years. There are in the set 35 Charles II coins, 25 James II coins, 19 William III and two William III and Mary III coins.  South Tipperary County Museum curator Marie McMahon said the artefacts were stacked in tube-shaped bundles. Irish law states that all artefacts found belong to the State and must be reported.

The coins stem from a time of conquest and rebellion. From 1536, Henry VIII had decided to conquer Ireland and bring it under crown control. From the mid-16th to the early 17th century, crown governments carried out a policy of land confiscation and colonization known as Plantations. Scottish and English Protestant colonists were sent to the provinces of Munster, Ulster and the counties of Laois and Offaly. These Protestant settlers replaced the Irish Catholic landowners who were removed from their lands. These settlers formed the ruling class of future British appointed administrations in Ireland. Several Penal Laws aimed at Catholics, Baptists and Presbyterians, were introduced to encourage conversion to the established.

Whoa, look at that dude!
Then there was an “unusually bitter” Irish Catholic rebellion and civil war, after which Oliver Cromwell, working for the English Commonwealth, re-conquered Ireland via invasion, which lasted from 1649 to 1651. Under Cromwell’s government, land ownership in Ireland was transferred overwhelmingly to puritan society and commercial undertakers to pay for the war.
And so, of a long and brutal history, the seventeenth century was perhaps among the bloodiest in Ireland’s long history. Two periods of war (1641-53 and 1689-91) caused huge loss of life and would lead anyone in their right mind to hide their savings somewhere deep and hidden. Apparently, this guy succeeded…sort of.  The ultimate dispossession of most of the Irish Catholic landowning class was engineered, and recusants were subordinated under the Penal Laws.  
Then17th century in Ireland was disrupted by eleven years of war, starting with the Rebellion of 1641, as Irish Catholics rebelled against the domination of English and Proestant settlers. The Catholic gentry briefly ruled the country as Confederate Ireland (1642-1649) against the background of the Wars of Three Kingdoms until Oliver Cromwell reconquered Ireland in 1649-1653 for the Commonwealth.  Cromwell’s conquest was the most brutal phase of the war. By its close, up to a third of Ireland’s pre-war population was dead or in exile. As retribution for the rebellion of 1641, the better-quality remaining lands owned by Irish Catholics were confiscated and given to British settlers commenced. Several hundred remaining native landowners were transplanted to Connacht.
So, obviously this individual had every reason to hide away his hard-earned labor somewhere deep. And, he did.  As happened last time SV reported on something along these lines, the government gets the rights to the coins.
So, gold and liquor. This guy probably wasn’t prosecuted back then, but in a time of such stress, he surely had what he needed…

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  • VXN7

    So what I’ve learned from this article is that you can leave a bag of gold in a pub as long as its an Irish Pub ’cause the locals only care for liquor and nothin’ more.

    • SV

      I wonder if the building owner is pleased…

  • Cromwell’s beard

    So, the original owner hid the gold coins to keep them out of the hands of the oppressive invader government, only to have the oppressive current government seize it 400 years later. That worked out well.