A farmer in Co Donegal has unearthed what may be one of the largest ancient slabs of bog butter ever discovered on the island of Ireland. The ancient butter was discovered by accident while a site on Micheal Boyle’s Portnoo farm was being excavated. A local archaeologist has said that the find, which is estimated to weigh between 22kg and 25kg, could be the “one of the biggest” of its kind ever recorded in Ireland.
Bog butter is an ancient form of preserved dairy or animal fat and can be found in the cool, oxygen-poor depths of Ireland’s peat bogs. Finds are common in both Scotland and Ireland. The practice of storing butter in bogs dates as far back as the Iron Age and is recorded as taking place as recently as the 16th and 19th century.
Archaeologist Paula Harvey, who visited the site of the discovery, said that local man Alan Moore was digging a drain when Micheal “spotted this big slab of something that didn’t look normal, didn’t look natural”. “So Alan stopped his digger and the two of them pulled it out and immediately Michael recognised that it was an artefact,” she explained. “He got a very distinct smell of a cheesy butter from it and quickly realised that it was butter.”
The remarkable find adds to Ireland’s archaeological legacy of bog butter and is currently being analysed by experts at the National Museum of Ireland. But there are hopes it can be returned and displayed locally at the Kilclooney Dolmen Centre. “The slab of butter wouldn’t mean anything to anybody visiting a national institution, but it certainly would mean an awful lot to the local community here in south west Donegal,” Ms Harvey added.
The Mystery of Bog Butter
Around 500 bog butter finds are estimated to have been recorded in Ireland, although she says this number is difficult to verify with a number of finds going unreported, or sitting in regional museums and private collections. While the butter was deposited in the peat for preservation, it was also sometimes deposited as a gift to the gods. “The bogs would have acted as a cool place, almost like a refrigerator and the butter would have stayed there until it was retrieved by the farmer, or perhaps in this case the local community, and then subsequently was lost for one reason or another.”
And bogs, sometimes referred to as Ireland’s first fridges, did the trick preserving butter for centuries as Ms Harvey can verify having tried a “sliver” of this most recent find. “It does taste like butter, an unsalted butter at that. I had a sliver and I’m still here to tell the tale,” she said. “People in bygone times were closer to nature, and were closer to the land than we unfortunately are, and they used everything and anything that they possibly could to preserve their food produce and this was just one method of preservation.”
The Importance of Bog Butter
Some people also buried butter as an offering to the gods or spirits and in both cases it was often encased in wooden containers. Paula said there was a “small piece of of wood” present, suggesting it was originally in a box which has since decomposed. Paula added that the “substantial” find could be “one of the biggest chunks of bog butter found in Ireland to date”. “Normally the bog butters are much smaller than the one we found,” she said. “They tend to be the size of a mixing bowl or a baking bowl rather than what was found. The type of containers that the butter would have been found in include kegs, churns, or even baskets and animal bladders, or indeed the skins of various animals. “This one only had a small piece of wood appearing on one of the surfaces which could indicate that it was stored in a wooden box but that only thing that is left is that small little sliver because it has disintegrated over time.”
A Peek into the Past
The discovery of this massive slab of bog butter offers a unique glimpse into the lives and practices of people who lived in Ireland centuries ago. It provides evidence of their ingenuity in preserving food and their connection to the land. The find also highlights the cultural significance of bog butter, which was not just a source of sustenance but also played a role in religious rituals and practices.
As researchers analyze this latest discovery, we can expect to learn even more about the fascinating world of bog butter and the people who left it behind. The find is a reminder that the land itself can hold secrets waiting to be unearthed, offering a glimpse into the past that enriches our understanding of our history and heritage.
