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XT. 



PKEHISTOEIC LEATHEE SHIELD FOUND AT CLONBEIN, 

 COUNTY LONGEOED. 



presented to the academy by colonel w. h. king-harman, d.l. 



By E. C. E. AEMSTEONO, F.S.A. 



Plates XIII., XIV. 



Read January 11. Ordered for Publication January 13. Published Feb. 22, 1909, 



I WISH to place before the Academy an account of a remarkable leather 

 shield found on June 5th of this year, at Clonbrin, County Longford. 

 Mr. Coffey is adding a note on a most interesting and unexplained feature of 

 the ornamentation on this and certain other shields from Northern Europe. 



The leather shield (Plate XIIL, fig. 1) was discovered by Alexander Fry, 

 who came upon it when cutting turf, 9 feet below the level of the bog at 

 Clonbrin. It was brought to the owner of the property, Col. W. H. King- 

 Harman ; and he, in an enlightened and generous manner, presented it to the 

 Eoyal Irish Academy for their collection preserved in the National Museum . 



The shield is made of a solid piece of leather, nearly I of an inch thick, 

 and it was originally probably taken from the chest of a mature bull. It 

 measures 20^ inches in length and 19^ inches across. It is furnished in the 

 centre with an oblong boss, 7^ inches by 5| inches, and about 2| inches in 

 height. The boss has been pressed out of the leather, and has been covered 

 by a cap, composed of somewhat finer leather than the body of the shield, 

 laced on to the boss. It is possible that the pressing out of the leather to 

 form the boss may have caused it to split, and that the cap was put on to 

 cover this, or, as it appears to be made of finer leather, it may have formed a 

 decorative element of the shield ; the lacing is very ornamental. 



Three ribs encircle the boss, the inner one is gapped on one side, and 

 upon the same side, the remaining two have a curious angle. Small round 

 bosses, about f inch in diameter and ^ an inch from each other, are placed 

 in sets of three between the ribs. There are in all twenty-four of these small 

 bosses, and they recall those usual on the circular bronze shields. The edge 

 of the shield is plain. 



The back of the shield (Plate XIIL, fig. 2), which is the coarse side of the 

 skin, is provided with a leather handle, unfortunately detached ; this was laced 

 on to each side of the back of the boss ; on one side the lacing remains in the 



K.I. A. PKOC, VOL. XXVII., SECT. C. [39] 



