A part-time barman who has taken to gardening after being made idle by the Covid-19 shutdown unearthed an ancient weapon of war – a 1798 pikehead.
Paul Moran was digging a ridge for potatoes on a plot of land beside his home in Castlebar, Mayo when he made the interesting historical discovery.
“When my spade hit something in the clay I thought at first it was a stone”, he explained, “but when I examined the object, I recognised it immediately it was the business end of a pikehead, even though the iron is now a bit corroded”.
The timber shaft of the pike has long disintegrated and the head, through crusted with some rust, is in good condition.
“I was tempted to clean the head but had second thoughts”, said Paul, “but decided to leave the cleaning to the experts”.
An area close to where the pike was found was a famous battleground during the 1798 Rising when a French expeditionary force, aided by an auxiliary force of Irish rebels, forced the Redcoats to flee Castlebar, a rout that has gone down in his history as ‘The Races of Castlebar’.
Pikes were the weapon of choice for the United Irishmen mainly because they had no access to other armaments, according to Stephen Dunford, a Mayo born author and expert on the 1798 rebellion.
“Up to 500 pikes were forged by village blacksmiths before the French landed in north Mayo”, Mr. Dunford explained. “The Irish knew the French were coming”.
Apart from a spear head, the pike unearthed by Paul Moran also features a curved hook which was used for slicing the reins of cavalry horses so that the rider lost control of his animal.
