The Viking-Age Silver Hoard

from Kilmacomma, Co Waterford:

A Woodstown Connection?

John Sheehan
Abstract. Detailed description of a Viking-age hoard from Kilmacomma, Co Waterford, found in Feb-
ruary/March 1981, and to be dated between c.880 and c.940. Its contents appear closely related to the
materials from the newly discovered Viking site at Woodstown, Co Waterford.
Keywords: Viking, silver, hack-silver, ingots, bullion, medieval Ireland, Waterford, Woodstown.

John Sheehan
Department of Archaelogy, University College, Cork
JSheehan@archaeology.ucc.ie

Peritia 20 (2008) 232–250 ISBN 978-2-503-51576-2

INTRODUCTION

The Kilmacomma hoard of Viking-age hack-silver was found, on five separate

occasions over February/March 1981 during an illegal search for archaeological
objects on the site of a partially levelled ringfort. The site is located on the lower
northern slopes of Kilmacomma Hill, Co Waterford, directly overlooking the
river Suir, near Clonmel (fig 1). Prior to its levelling, which took place sometime
between 1977 and 1981, it was described as a circular enclosure, defined by an
earthen bank, with a diameter of thirty-two metres (Moore 1999, 91 §685). All
that remains now is a scarp of the northern section of its bank and an opening to
a souterrain. From this location the Inishlounaght ecclesiastical site, on the
opposite side of the river, is clearly visible. A single fragment of a Viking-age sil-
ver arm-ring was found here in 1984 (Sheehan 1992, 210, fig 3).
The hoard appears to have been originally deposited in the bank of the ring-
fort, close to the souterrain opening. The National Museum of Ireland personnel
who investigated the find-spot, Mary Cahill and Michael Ryan, concluded that
it may have been disturbed by ploughing, resulting in its components being scat-
tered over a restricted area of c.2m×c.3m (NMI file IA/8/81). The finder repor-
ted that the ‘main area of the find’ was concentrated in an area ‘about 3ft by 2ft
in area’. The hoard was acquired by the National Museum of Ireland, where it is
registered as 1981:396 a–l.
 Viking-Age Silver 233

This paper is offered in recognition of Leo Swan’s interest in, and contribution
to, the study of Ireland’s early medieval and Viking periods.

THE HOARD AND ITS COMPONENTS (fig 2)

The hoard consists of twelve items of hack-silver, with a combined weight of
79.06 gm. It comprises eight ingot fragments (no 1–6, 8, 10), two fragments of
broad-band arm-rings (no 9, 12), one fragment of a circular-sectioned rod (no
7) and one fragment of wire (no 11). These may be described as follows.

1. Silver ingot terminal fragment (1981:396.a), cut and broken from a bar of sub-
triangular section, with rounded end, tapering to ovoid section at the cut end,
where it measures 0.88×0.47 cm. There are traces of hammering on the lower sur-
face, near the cut, while the upper surface is pitted from the ingot mould. Analysis
indicates that this object contains 50.8% Ag. Nicks: 1. L 2.98; W 1.06; T 0.60
cm; Wt 11.08 gm.
2. Silver ingot fragment (1981:396.b), cut and broken at both ends from a bar of
semi-ovoid section. The upper surface is slightly pitted from the mould and an
elongated slice has been sheared from one edge of the lower surface. Analysis indi-
cates that this object contains 79% Ag. Nicks: 0. L 1.56; W 2.32; T 1.11 cm; Wt
26.04 gm.
3. Silver ingot fragment (1981:396.c), cut (twice) and broken at one end, cut at
the other, from a bar of semi-ovoid section. The upper surface is slightly pitted
from the mould. Analysis indicates that this object contains 93.5% Ag. Nicks: 1. L
1.97; W1.66; T 0.79 cm; Wt 16.76 gm.
4. Silver ingot fragment (1981:396.d), cut and broken at both ends, from opposite
faces, from a bar of sub-rectangular section. The upper surface is pitted from the
mould and the lower one is slightly concave. Analysis indicates that this object
contains 77.5% Ag. Nicks: 0. L 1.48; W 1.58; T 0.59 cm; Wt 10.28 gm.
5. Silver ingot fragment (1981:396.e), cut and broken at both ends, and along one
side, from a bar of semi-ovoid section. Nicks: 0. L 1.18; W 0.97; T 0.67 cm; Wt
4.36 gm.
6. Silver ingot fragment (1981:396.f), cut at both ends, and along both sides, from
a bar of indeterminate section. The upper surface is pitted from the mould and
there is a cut across the lower surface. Nicks: 0. Dimensions 1.18 by 0.79; T 0.7
cm; Wt 3.97 gm.
234 Sheehan

7. Silver rod fragment (1981.396.g), of sub-circular section (D 0.65×0.59 cm); it

is cut at one end and cut and broken at the other. Nicks: 0. L 0.56 cm. Wt 0.98
gm.
8. Silver fragment (1981.396.h), irregular in shape, with no original surface surviv-
ing. Probably derived from an ingot. Nicks: 0. Dimensions 0.84×0.69×0.37 cm;
Wt 0.69 gm.
9. Silver fragment (1981.396.i), of flat band (?), with no original ends or sides sur-
viving. Cleanly cut on all sides. Possibly derived from a plain broad-band arm-
ring. Nicks: 0. Dimensions 0.89×0.66; T 0.15 cm; Wt 0.69 gm.
10. Silver ingot terminal fragment (1981.396.g), cut obliquely, from both the
upper and lower faces, from an ingot with a rounded end. Nicks: 0. Dimensions
0.74×0.5×0.4 cm. Wt 0.63 gm.

11. Silver wire fragment (1981.396.h), of circular section (D 0.26 cm), showing
evidence of torsion; cut at both ends. Nicks: 0. L 0.82 cm. Wt 0.34 gm.

12. Silver arm-ring fragment (1981.396.i), of Hiberno-Scandinavian broad-band

type, with punched ornament; one end is cleanly cut through, the other cut and
broken twice, from opposite faces. Its outer face is ornamented with apparently
random stampings, the sub-triangular punch having a single raised pellet. Stamp
total: 9. Nicks: 1. H 1.60; T 0.27; L 1.2 cm; Wt 3.26 gm.

INGOT FRAGMENTS

Ingot-derived hack-silver dominates the composition of the hoard. Ingots form a

significant element of Ireland’s Viking-age hoards, and functioned primarily as a
simple means of storing bullion. They occur, in either complete or hack-silver
form, in at least forty-one hoards that date before AD 1000, seventeen of which
also contain coins (see table 1). All of the latter hoards are of tenth-century date,
though the large number of ingots in the Cuerdale hoard, deposited c.905
(Graham-Campbell 1987, 332–36; Blackburn & Pagan 1986, 294), serves to
show that these objects must also have been in circulation in Ireland during the
last decades of the ninth century. It is interesting to note that ingots were gene-
rally more popular in Ireland and Denmark than in other parts of the Viking
world (Kruse 1993, 188), a tendency which emphasises the important links that
existed between the Viking-age silver-working traditions of Ireland and southern
Scandinavia (Sheehan 2001, 58–59).
 Viking-Age Silver 235

Millockstown, Co Louth tpq 905–06

Dysart Island (n 4), Co Westmeath c.907
Co Antrim c.910?
Magheralagan, Co Down c.910
Leggagh, Co Meath c 915
Dunmore Cave (no 1), Co Kilkenny c.928
Co Dublin c.935
Monasterboice, Co Louth c.953
Mungret, Co Limerick c.953
Killincoole, Co Louth c.970
Kilkenny West, Co Westmeath c.970
Rahan (no 2), Co Offaly c.970?
Dunmore Cave (no 2), Co Kilkenny 970s
Ireland (?) c.960–90
Ladestown, Co Westmeath tpq 895
Marl Valley, Co Westmeath c.986
Nr Dublin 10th century

Table 1. Coin-dated hoards from Ireland containing ingots or ingot-fragments,

< AD 1000 (after Sheehan 1998a, table 6.1, with additions).

Given that Viking-Age ingots are generally neither culturally nor regionally diag-
nostic, it is not possible to state unequivocally that all of the ingots from
Ireland’s Viking-age hoards, including the Kilmacomma examples, are of Hiber-
no-Scandinavian manufacture. Nevertheless, there is a strong probability that
they are, especially given that broad-band arm-rings—the Hiberno-Scandinavian
object-type par excellence (see below)—were simply made by hammering out
ingots. Indeed diagnostic Hiberno-Scandinavian material forms part of thirteen
out of the nineteen hoards from Ireland in which ingots are associated with
ornaments and/or ornament-derived hack-silver. Since ingots primarily func-
tioned as a means of storing bullion, it is probable that the putative Hiberno-
Scandinavian examples, alongside other objects such as broad-band arm-rings,
had a role to play in Ireland’s Viking-age metal-weight economy. The fact that
many other ingots in hoards from Ireland are represented in hack-silver form
may be taken as evidence to support this, as may the occurrence of nicks on
them, as on two of the Kilmacomma ingot fragments (no 1 and 3). Silver objects
236 Sheehan

might acquire minor nicks and pecks of this type during commercial transac-
tions, and these represent a characteristic Scandinavian method of assessing silver
quality as well as testing for plated forgeries.
Unfortunately, no programme of metrological analysis has yet been conducted
on the corpus of ingots from Irish hoards. However, the ingots from which
Hiberno-Scandinavian broad-band arm-rings were hammered into ring form, on
the basis of the results of preliminary metrological analyses on a sample of com-
plete arm-rings from Britain and Ireland, appear to have been cast to variations
on a target weight-unit of 26.15 gm (Sheehan 1984, 57–65). This result is of
particular interest since it differs by only .45 gm from the dominant weight-unit
reflected in the lead scale-weights from tenth-century Dublin (Wallace 1987,
206–07). While the arm-ring target weight appears to be a valid one, it is also
clear that the weights of individual rings were not intended to be precise multi-
ples or fractions of it, and the weighing of these would have been required dur-
ing commercial transactions. It is also apparent that the Scandinavians did not
always weigh silver accurately, and even the lead weights that formed the basis of
their metrological systems sometimes only generally conformed to the weight
standards. The main weight unit was the eyrir, or ounce, and this could be sub-
divided into thirds or sixths. A value of 24 gm for the eyrir has been proposed, as
have others of up to 26.6 gm (Kruse 1988, 286–87), but it is not clear whether
these were separate standards or simply a loosely applied single one. It is espe-
cially interesting to note that the weights of two of the larger ingot fragment
from the Kilmacomma hoard, no 2 and 3, at 26.04 gm and 16.76 gm respec-
tively, appear to conform closely to the proposed Hiberno-Scandinavian weight
unit of 26.15–26.6 gm, as noted above.

BROAD-BAND ARM-RING FRAGMENT

Silver arm-rings were by far the most common products of Ireland’s Hiberno-
Scandinavian silver-working tradition, which was at its height between c.850 and
c.950. Several different classes have been identified, but the most important of
these in numerical terms is the Hiberno-Scandinavian broad-band type (Gra-
ham-Campbell 1976, 51–53; Sheehan 1998a, 178–80). The flat arm-ring frag-
ment from the Kilmacomma hoard (no 12) is derived from an example of this
type. The nature of a metal-weight or Gewichtsgeldwirtschaft economy neces-
 Viking-Age Silver 237

sitated the reduction of ornaments to hack-silver, and examples of broad-band

arm-rings reduced to this form occur in many hoards in Ireland.
Broad-band arm-rings are normally penannular in form and are made from a
thick, flat band of silver that tapers in width from the mid-point towards the ter-
minals. Though plain examples do occur, these rings are normally decorated
with punched ornament and frequently feature rows of transversely disposed
grooves, often with a diagonal-cross motif on the expanded central area of the
arm-ring. The Kilmacomma fragment is somewhat atypical in that it is orna-
mented with apparently random stampings, the sub-triangular punch having a
single raised pellet.
Almost 140 individual examples of broad-band arm-rings are on record from
Ireland. They occur, sometimes in hack-silver form, in almost thirty hoards,
including the well-known examples from Cushalogurt, Co Mayo (Hall 1973),
Raphoe, Co Donegal (Graham-Campbell 1988), Dysart (no 4), Co Westmeath
(Ryan et al. 1984, 339–42), Carraig Aille II, Co Limerick (Ó Ríordáin 1949,
62–64; fig 2) and Cloghermore, Co Kerry (Sheehan 2005, 135–53). Rings of
this type have also been noted from at least a dozen finds from Britain and
Scandinavia, particularly Norway. Classic examples in this regard include that
from Cuerdale, Lancashire, where a substantial portion of the non-numismatic
silver is demonstrably of Hiberno-Scandinavian origin (Graham-Campbell
1987, 339–40), and those from Slemmedal and Grimstad, both from the Oslof-
jord region of Norway (Blindheim 1981, 17–18). The occurrence of broad-band
arm-rings beside coins in a number of hoards from Ireland, Britain and Scandi-
navia indicates that the type developed during the later ninth century, perhaps
c.880, and continued in general circulation until c.930–40 (Sheehan 1990,
125).
The distributional evidence from Ireland suggests that broad-band arm-rings
were manufactured there, most probably by the Dublin-based Hiberno-
Scandinavians, though in origin the type is of ninth-century Danish inspiration
(Brooks & Graham-Campbell 1986, 97–98; Sheehan 1998a, 194–98). They
appear to have been manufactured for the storage and circulation of silver as a
form of currency in Ireland’s metal-weight economy, centred on a weight unit of
26.15 gm, as noted above, though it is very likely that they also served as status
objects in certain social contexts (Sheehan 2004, 183). As with ingots, silver
arm-rings might acquire minor nicks and pecks during commercial transactions,
and one such nick occurs on the Kilmacomma arm-ring fragment.
238 Sheehan

ROD FRAGMENT

The plain silver rod fragment from Kilmacomma (no 7) is of sub-circular section
and thus could be derived from any one of a number of Viking-age ornament
types. It may, for example, derive from a rod arm-ring, a type of annular ring
that is usually considered to be of Scandinavian, perhaps specifically Norwegian,
origin (Sheehan 1992, 214). However, these are not of common occurrence in
Ireland, the example in the hoard from Rathmooley, Co Tipperary, being the
only definite example known from Munster.
It would appear more likely, however, that the Kilmacomma rod fragment is
derived from an example of a penannular rod arm-ring. Examples of this type of
ornament which, on present evidence appear to date to the late ninth or the first
half of the tenth century, are on record from only four provenanced silver hoards
in Ireland, all (perhaps significantly) from Munster (Sheehan 1992, 214–15),
although there is also an example in gold from the Vesnoy, Co Roscommon,
hoard (Armstrong 1920, 51). Although rings similar to these are on record from
a small number of Scandinavian hoards, such as the Gashagen find from Got-
land (Stenberger 1958, 239–41), it seems likely that those from Ireland are of
local manufacture. The southerly distribution of the type (three of the four
provenanced find-spots of the silver examples are located within thirty kilo-
metres of Cork) suggests that the penannular rod arm-ring, as a type, may be a
product of the tenth-century Scandinavian settlement there. This proposal is
reinforced by the nature of the Kilbarry hoard, found in 1844 on the northern
fringes of the modern city. It may have contained as many as fifty rings, making
it by far the largest hoard from Munster and among the largest from Ireland
(Sheehan 1998b, 160).

WIRE FRAGMENT

Small fragments of silver wire, such as the Kilmacomma example (no 11), occur
occasionally, though rarely, in Ireland’s Viking-age hoards. They frequently
show evidence of torsion, indicating that they have been cut from plaited wire
ornaments, such as arm- and neck-rings. The only examples that occur in coin-
dated contexts are those in the hoards from the Dysart no 4, Co Westmeath, and
Magheralagan, Co Down (Ryan et al. 1984, 341; Briggs & Graham-Campbell
 Viking-Age Silver 239

1976, 23), the depositions of which are dated to c.907 and the late ninth/early
tenth centuries, respectively.

THE HOARD’S STRUCTURE

A new classificatory system for Viking-age hoards from Ireland containing non-
numismatic material has recently been developed and proposed by the author
(Sheehan 2001b, 57–62; 2004). The basis for this classification is the composi-
tion of the hoards as reflected by the presence, absence, or association of the
three non-numismatic phenomena that may form part of them, namely, orna-
ments, ingots, and hack-silver. The presence or absence of coins is not deemed
to be of particular significance, as coins could be regarded variously as bullion,
ornaments, or money in the Viking age. A fivefold division of the hoards is
advanced and the shared characteristics of each of these classes, whether they
contain coins or not, are stressed. The non-numismatic components of Class 1
hoards consist of complete ornaments only; those of Class 2 consist of complete
ingots only; those of Class 3 consist of a combination of complete ornaments
and ingots only; those of Class 4 consist of complete ornaments and/or ingots in
association with hack-silver, while those of Class 5 consist of hack-silver only.
The principal classes evident amongst the material from Ireland are Classes 1, 2
and 4, which together account for almost 84% of the total number. When the
broad contextual information pertaining to these hoards—such as chronology,
distribution and find location—is added to their proposed classifications, it
becomes possible to identify and appreciate their social and economic sig-
nificance more readily (Sheehan 2004, 181–84). Thus the proposed system facil-
itates the examination of the various roles that silver hoards and their com-
ponents played in both Hiberno-Scandinavian and Irish society.
The system is capable of further levels of refinement for the purpose of more
detailed analyses. Thus, for example, a hoard which contains hack-silver (i.e. a
Class 4 or 5 hoard), such as the Kilmacomma find, may be sub-classified into
one of twelve permutations and combinations on the basis of whether its hack-
silver is derived from ornaments, from ingots or from both of these, combined
with the form of its other non-numismatic contents, if any. This number of
potential permutations and combinations is doubled, of course, when coins are
also present in the find.
240 Sheehan

Under the terms of the proposed classificatory system the Kilmacomma find is
a Class 5 hoard, fulfilling the criteria of being a find consisting exclusively of
hack-silver. There are only fourteen such hoards on record from Ireland, repre-
senting 18% of the total number. Most of these contain ingot-derived hack-
silver, some in association with ornament-derived hack-silver, and almost half
also feature coins in their composition. Each of the latter hoards was deposited
during the tenth century. The Kilmacomma find may be further categorised as
belonging to sub-section 5c of this class, as it contains hack-silver derived from
both ornaments and ingots. There are only two other Class 5c hoards on record
from Ireland.
All Class 5 hoards may be regarded as evidence for the use of silver as a means
of payment, given that they are composed of hack-silver. Hack-silver hoards
should be viewed as commercially ‘active’, according to Graham-Campbell, who
notes that ‘silver bullion will have been so rendered for commercial purposes and
not for reasons of status’ (1989, 55). The phenomenon is usually interpreted as
an intermediary form of development between a bullion economy and a
monetary one: the fragmentation of ornaments and ingots, and their absorption
into commercial circulation, arises from the unavailability of sufficient quantities
of imported coined silver to meet the needs of a metal-weight economy (Lund-
ström 1973, 11; Hårdh 1996, 86). The occurrence of highly-fragmented hack-
silver may be regarded as the ultimate stage in this process, preceding the actual
introduction of minting.
In Ireland, however, the evidence of the hoards does not appear to conform to
this model of economic progression. Here, it may well have been the retention
and use of imported coins, rather than the process of reducing ornaments to
hack-silver, that resulted in the late tenth-century development of indigenous
minting (Sheehan 2001b, 62). Dublin’s mint was established c.997, following a
period of about fifty years during which quantities of Anglo-Saxon coins were
being retained and hoarded in Ireland. The clear majority of the coin hoards
deposited during this period is located within the north Leinster and central
midlands regions, those parts of the country focused on the Hiberno-Scandi-
navian settlement of Dublin. The distributional patterns of Irish hoards with a
hack-silver element, however, are largely exclusive to these regions (Sheehan
2001b, fig 9a, e and f). The fact that less than one third of these hoards contains
coins serves to distinguish further these finds from the coin hoards and, inciden-
 Viking-Age Silver 241

tally, serves to isolate them even further from the Scandinavian hack-silver
hoards which are only rarely found without coins. Thus, it appears, on the basis
of both chronological and distributional evidence, that it may have been the
retention and use of imported coins, rather than the process of reducing orna-
ments to hack-silver, that resulted in the late tenth-century development of indi-
genous minting in Ireland.
While it seems unlikely that hack-silver had a significant role to play in the
move towards monetarisation that occurred in later tenth-century Ireland, it is
clear, nevertheless, that hack-silver hoards did serve an economic function. This
equation is supported when those finds that are recorded from settlement con-
texts are considered. The crannóg emerges as the settlement type most strongly
associated with these types of hoards (Sheehan 2004, 187–88) though perhaps
not surprisingly given that some of them were developing market functions at
this time; and ecclesiastical sites also feature in this equation. This finding serves
as a reminder that crannógs, excavated examples of which have produced im-
pressive quantities of other high-quality metalwork and exotic imports, are often
regarded as ‘the homesteads of the wealthy and prestigious in Early Medieval
Irish society’ (Edwards 1990, 41).
Classic hack-silver hoards, such as that from Kilmacomma, are of relatively
rare occurrence in Ireland. In fact, it is noteworthy that few of the Irish finds
may be classified as ‘true’ hack-silver hoards in the sense in which this pheno-
menon is understood in Scandinavia. Hårdh, for instance, has defined hack-
silver hoards as finds ‘where half or more of the objects are fragments, and where
most of the objects weigh less than five grams’ (1996, 33). Under these terms
many Class 4 and 5 hoards from Ireland fall outside her definition. This exclu-
sion is mainly due to the low-weight limitation imposed by the five-gram condi-
tion, which appears to be based on the very comprehensive degree of hack-silver
fragmentation that is evident in some southern Scandinavian hoards. However,
these hoards are generally later in date than the hoards from Ireland under con-
sideration here and it may be that the two bodies of evidence are not directly
comparable.
The interpretation of those few hack-silver hoards that are on record from
Viking-age Ireland is problematic. Could their occurrence outside of the Dublin
sphere of influence indicate that a hack-silver economy began to develop and
operate in parts of Ireland that were peripheral, both geographically and cultur-
242 Sheehan

ally, to the major Hiberno-Scandinavian settlements? The hoards cannot con-

firm this independently, for it is not possible to ascertain whether the fragmenta-
tion of their components took place before or after they came into Irish owner-
ship. On the other hand, if hack-silver was a phenomenon normally associated
with the economically more refined Hiberno-Scandinavian populations of the
coastal towns, and with the Irish in their vicinities, then why is there a virtual
absence of it in the Dublin/north Leinster region where one might expect to find
it?
DATE

Given that it has no coin, the date of the Kilmacomma hoard may only be
gauged from the evidence of the deposition dates of other related hoards. The
presence of a fragment of a broad-band arm-rings is particularly useful in this
regard, for rings of this type occur alongside coins in a number of hoards from
Ireland, Britain, and Scandinavia. They occur in hack-silver form, for instance,
in the finds from Cuerdale, Lancashire, deposited c.905, and Dysart Island (no
4), Co Westmeath, deposited c.907 (Ryan et al. 1984, 339–42), demonstrating
that the type had already developed during the late ninth century. This is con-
firmed by the presence of an early variant in the hoard from Croydon, Surrey,
deposited c.872 (Brooks & Graham-Campbell 1986, 96–97). Other examples
from coin-dated hoards from Ireland are present in the ‘Co Antrim’ and Maghe-
ralagan, Co Down, finds, both deposited c. 910 (Sheehan 2001a, 52–53, fig 2;
Briggs & Graham-Campbell 1976). Later coin-dated hoards from both Britain
and Scandinavia, particularly Norway, also contain broad-band rings, including
those from Goldsborough, Yorkshire, deposited c.920 (Philpott 1990, 45), Ban-
gor, Caernarvonshire, deposited c.925 (Boon 1986, 92–97), and Grimestad in
Vestfold, and Slemmedal in Aust-Agder, both of which were deposited during
the 920s (Blindheim 1981). In overall terms, these and other dates indicate that
the broad-band type of arm-ring developed during the later ninth century, per-
haps c.880, and continued in general circulation until c.930–40 (Sheehan 1990,
125).
Ingots or ingot fragments occur in at least forty-one pre-1000 hoards from
Ireland, seventeen of which also contain coins (table 1). All of these are tenth-
century in date, though, as noted above, the large number of ingots in the Cuer-
dale hoard serves as a reminder that ingots were also in circulation in Ireland
 Viking-Age Silver 243

during the closing years of the ninth century. The rod arm-ring fragment from
Kilmacomma, as well as its twisted wire fragment, could each in theory date to
anywhere in the later ninth or tenth centuries.
Taking together the proposed date-ranges for broad-band arm-rings and
ingots, a date for the assembly and deposition of the Kilmacomma hoard within
the period between c.880 and c.940 seems likely.

REGIONAL CONTEXT

Fifteen Viking-age silver hoards containing non-numismatic material are on

record from Munster. The others comprise those from Kilbarry; Lohort and
Macroom, Co Cork; Fenit and Cloghermore, Co Kerry; Carraig Aille II and
Mungret, Co Limerick; Rathmooley and Cullen, Co Tipperary; Knockmaon,
Co Waterford; and four hoards with county provenances only, two from Cork
and one each from Limerick and Clare (see Sheehan 1998b, 162–63, where
selected references are cited). No less than eight of these fifteen hoards are of
Class 1 type, being composed exclusively of complete ornaments, and as such are
typical of Viking-age hoards containing non-numismatic material from else-
where in Ireland. There are five Class 4 hoards known while there are two Class
5 finds, including that from Kilmacomma, on record.
The seven Class 4 and 5 Munster hoards to which the Kilmacomma find be-
longs share the characteristic of containing hack-silver. The Class 4 hoards com-
prise the finds from Carraig Aille, Kilbarry, Cloghermore, Mungret, and an un-
localised example from Co Cork, while the Class 5 finds are those from Kilma-
comma and Knockmaon. In terms of their internal structure all of these finds,
apart from the Mungret one, are clearly related, though a number of them may
be distinguished from the Kilmacomma find on other grounds. The Knockmaon
find, for instance, is composed of Scoto-Scandinavian ‘ring-money’ rather than
Hiberno-Scandinavian material, and as such is distinctive in the Irish context. In
addition, its deposition date of c.1000 (Blackburn & Pagan 1986, 297) marks it
out as belonging to a temporal zone different from most other Munster hoards.
Kilmacomma, on the other hand, is composed of Hiberno-Scandinavian mate-
rial but its highly-fragmented hack-silver content distinguishes it from the other
Munster hoards, all of which contain either complete arm-rings or ingots. How-
ever, it does share with them the characteristic of containing identifiable Hiber-
244 Sheehan

no-Scandinavian material, and in this sense is to be connected to the hoards

from Cloghermore, Carraig Aille, Kilbarry and the unlocalised example from Co
Cork.

OWNERSHIP

The physical context of the Kilmacomma hoard, a ringfort, is not unusual.

While many Viking-age hoards from Ireland have no detailed recorded informa-
tion on their find-contexts, it is nonetheless clear that most actually derive from
settlement contexts. Often, indeed nearly always, these settlements are Irish in
type. In Munster, the hoards from Carraig Aille II and Rathmooley were found
concealed in ringforts, while the Mungret find comes from an ecclesiastical site.
Elsewhere in the country, where crannógs are more common, hoards are also
found in these contexts (Sheehan 1998a, 175; Graham-Campbell & Sheehan,
forthcoming).
The fact that a high proportion of Ireland’s Viking-age hoards with recorded
find circumstances derive from Irish settlement-types suggests that these hoards
were in Irish control and ownership when they were buried, especially when they
are from areas that remained in Irish control for all or most of the Viking Age.
In the Munster context, for instance, this is clearly so in the case of the hoards
from the ringforts at Rathmooley and Kilmacomma, but the Carraig Aille II
hoard, also from a ringfort, is less definite in this regard. In the case of this latter
site there are other finds of general Scandinavian character known from the
Lough Gur region of Co Limerick, in which it is located, and all of these finds
should perhaps be interpreted in the light of a reference in the Annals of Inisfal-
len to the existence of a Viking base at Lough Gur in 926 (Ó Floinn 1998, 150).
In overall terms, however, it appears that most Viking-age silver hoards from
Ireland were in Irish ownership when they were buried. The means by which the
Irish acquired this wealth are not fully understood, but it is likely that trade,
tribute, and gift-exchange were involved (Sheehan 1998a, 173–76).
Some of the wealth represented by the hoards, however, must have been owned
by Hiberno-Scandinavians. It may safely be assumed, for instance, that at least
some of the hoards from the immediate vicinity of Dublin, and from the hinter-
lands of Hiberno-Scandinavian towns elsewhere, represent local wealth. In the
case of Munster, Bradley has drawn attention to historical and other evidence for
 Viking-Age Silver 245

the existence and extent of Hiberno-Scandinavian settlement in the rural hinter-

lands of Limerick, Cork and Waterford (1988, 62–65). Hoards from these
specific areas include those from Kilbarry and Mungret, from near the Cork and
Limerick settlements respectively, and the late tenth-century find from Knock-
maon, near Dungarvan, which derives from an area known to have been control-
led by the Hiberno-Scandinavians of Waterford.
It is clear, therefore, that the geographical, cultural, and temporal contexts of
the find-spot of a hoard must be examined when attempting to determine
ownership. In the case of the geographical context of the Kilmacomma hoard, it
derives from an area far removed from the hinterland settlements of Cork or
Waterford. It could, consequently, be argued that it is likely to have been a Irish
find. However, recent discoveries have demonstrated that there was a significant
Scandinavian settlement on the banks of the river Suir at Woodstown, Co
Waterford. Therefore, there are arguments to be made, on geographical grounds
alone, for a Scandinavian or Hiberno-Scandinavian context, involving Wood-
stown, for the Kilmacomma hoard, given that it, too, derived from a site on the
Suir (fig 3).

WOODSTOWN

The Woodstown site has recently been subjected to limited archaeological inves-
tigations, and a preliminary report on this work has been published by O’Brien,
Quinney and Russell (2005). It comprises a large, shallow D-shaped area, c.450
m long by up to 160 m wide, originally enclosed by a bank and an external
ditch; it is open to the river, located at its confluence with a small tributary, and
protected along portion of its landward side by a wetland area. The excavated
portion of the enclosing bank was topped with a palisade and within the enclo-
sure testing resulted in the identification of a large number of features that may
represent structures and houses. The site features most of the diagnostic charac-
teristics of a Scandinavian longphort, as defined by Kelly and Maas in their con-
sideration of another D-shaped enclosure on the river Barrow at Dunrally, Co
Laois (1999, 132–43), and the finds from the site appear to confirm this identi-
fication. A Viking burial, for instance, complete with sword and other weapons,
was excavated just outside its enclosing bank (O’Brien et al. 2005, 35, fig 14),
while most of the culturally diagnostic finds from the enclosure’s interior are of
246 Sheehan

Scandinavian or Hiberno-Scandinavian character: these include hack-silver, a

Kufic coin fragment, lead weights, ringed pins, boat’s roves and clench nails,
sword fittings and other weaponry, and rotary whet-stones (McNamara 2005;
O’Brien et al. 2005, 58–73). Among the remainder of the culturally affiliated
material is a small collection of Irish ecclesiastical metalwork items of the type
that also form part of the find assemblages from the Early Viking-age Scandina-
vian cemeteries in Dublin and from burials of similar date in Norway.
The evidence, as it currently stands, appears to indicate that the cultural con-
text of the Woodstown site is Scandinavian or Hiberno-Scandinavian. It has,
however, been argued by O’Brien et al. that the enclosure was built in the fifth
century, possibly as a ‘monastic settlement’, and was later reoccupied by Scandi-
navians (2005, 74–78). On the basis of the published evidence, however, it is
very difficult to support the notion that the site’s origins lie in the pre-Viking
age. The proposed early dating is solely based on three radiocarbon dates, all
deriving from the fills of a short section of its enclosing ditch (ibid. 43–45),
calibrated at 2-sigma level to within the fifth to seventh centuries AD. However,
these dates were obtained from oak charcoal samples and, clearly, they may have
derived from old wood. That this was almost certainly the case is indicated when
the artefacts from this ditch are considered, for these include objects of amber
and ivory as well as a silver ingot, all of which are familiar finds in Viking-age
contexts but would be singularly unusual in fifth-century Ireland (Sheehan,
forthcoming). Indeed, the ingot is a distinctive example of Viking-age type,
featuring a rectangular cross-section and hammered faces, and is closely paralle-
led in the tenth-century hoard from Tiree, Scotland (Graham-Campbell 1995,
97–98, pl 3a).
An alternative theory, which is entirely consistent with the archaeological evi-
dence from the site to date, is that the Woodstown enclosure was built in the
period between the mid-ninth and mid-tenth centuries as a Scandinavian long-
phort, and that it may have endured to become a Hiberno-Scandinavian settle-
ment with broader functions. It may, for instance, date to the 860s, a decade
during which, as noted by Downham (2004, 77–82), there was a significant
increase in the annalistic recording of Scandinavian attacks that emanated from
Waterford Harbour. It is also possible that it was constructed during the second
decade of the tenth century, during which the annals record a series of important
events, beginning in 914, involving raiding by great fleets of Scandinavians from
 Viking-Age Silver 247

a longphort base in Loch Dá Chaech, prior to its abandonment in 918. The name
Loch Dá Chaech refers generally to the Waterford Harbour area, though Down-
ham has drawn attention to the fact that during this five-year period it is exclu-
sively used in the annals to refer to a Scandinavian settlement at Waterford; both
before and after this period the name Port Láirge was used (2004, 82–84). The
name-change may indicate that the 914–18 longphort was a new Scandinavian
base, distinct from the Port Láirge settlement, and it is possible the Woodstown
site is Loch Dá Chaech.
About forty items of Viking-age silver derive from Woodstown. These mainly
comprise ingots and ingot-derived hack-silver, though there are also some hack-
silver fragments of arm-rings, a silver weight, and pieces of casting waste. The
assemblage contains elements from as early as the ninth century to, potentially,
as late as the mid-eleventh century, though the bulk of the material, as represen-
ted by ingots and ingot-derived hack-silver, most likely dates to the period en-
compassing the later ninth and tenth centuries. Unfortunately, with only one
exception, all of these finds were retrieved from disturbed topsoil contexts and it
is consequently impossible to judge whether they comprised a series of single
losses or a hoard or, indeed, several hoards. The importance of the assemblage is
that, for the first time in Ireland, a large collection of hack-silver has been found
in a demonstrably Scandinavian or Hiberno-Scandinavian cultural context and,
moreover, its presence on the site indicates that Woodstown had developed eco-
nomic functions.
CONCLUSIONS

In terms of its components, especially the broad-band arm-ring and ingot frag-
ments, the Kilmacomma hoard is quite typical of Viking-age silver hoards from
Ireland. When it is considered from the point of view of its structure, however, it
is clearly unrepresentative of the majority of hoards from Ireland, being one of
only four Class 5c hoards on record from the country.
What then, is the explanation for the occurrence of this unusual hoard in the
ringfort at Kilmacomma? As noted above, Kilmacomma is located on the banks
of the Suir, one of the rivers that flows from the early kingdoms of Munster,
Ossory, and Leinster into Waterford Harbour and which were used as inland
river-routes by the Vikings. In terms of the types of objects represented in it, as
well as their hack-silver form, the Kilmacomma hoard finds ready a parallel in
248 Sheehan

the Woodstown material. Given that it is precisely because of the highly-frag-

mented nature of its hack-silver that the Kilmacomma find stands alone from
the other Viking-age hoards from Munster, it seems all the more likely that it
ultimately derives from the Woodstown site where the silver occurs almost exclu-
sively in hacked form. The context for its occurrence at Kilmacomma is likely to
be connected with the presence of the Inishlounaght ecclesiastical site directly
across the river which, significantly, has also produced Viking-age hack-silver, as
hack-silver hoards of this type are more often associated with church sites than
other types of settlements.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author is grateful to the National Museum of Ireland for permission to publish the
Kilmacomma hoard, to Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd for permission to refer
to the silver from Woodstown and to Mr Nick Hogan, Department of Archaeology,
University College Cork, for preparing Fig 1–3.
Viking-Age Silver 251
252 Sheehan