Tipperary Co. Council to consider proposal to produce replicas of Carrick-on-Suir gold coins hoard

Tipperary Co. Council is to investigate a proposal to get  replicas made of the Carrick-on-Suir hoard of gold coins so they can be exhibited in the town where they were discovered seven years ago. 

The 81 coins dating from the 17th century are currently on display at the Tipperary  Museum of Hidden History  in Clonmel but for security reasons it's not possible to showcase them in Carrick-on-Suir where they were found by building workers carrying out renovations on Cooney's Pub on Main Street in January, 2013.  

Cllr Kieran Bourke proposed at the monthly meeting of Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District councillors that replicas of the coins be commissioned and exhibited at Carrick-on-Suir Town Hall or Ormond Castle. 

He made the proposal to County Librarian Damien Dullaghan of Tipperary Co. Council's Culture, Library & Emergency Services Directorate, who was attending the meeting to update councillors on developments in the county museum and other cultural services under the directorate's remit. 

The National Museum has loaned the Carrick-on-Suir coin hoard to Tipperary Hidden History Museum for a period of five years. They are one of the museum's key exhibits since it re-opened in October following a €500,000 revamp that included improved security standards for valuable artefacts. 

Cllr Bourke said it was wonderful to have the coins back in Co. Tipperary and he realised a lot of security was required in moving them out of the county museum and bringing them to Carrick-on-Suir to showcase them to local people in the town they were discovered.

In view of this, he wondered could the Irish mint produce replicas of the coins for putting on show in the town they were discovered.  

The Carrick-on-Suir councillor asked if there was also a possibility Tipperary Hidden History Museum could become the permanent home for the Carrick-on-Suir coin hoard. 

He pointed out that while they were in the National Museum they weren't on public display. 

Mr Dullaghan  said Cllr Bourke's replicas proposal was “excellent” and he promised to put it to the curator of the Tipperary Hidden History Museum. 

He also said it was their goal to make the Tipperary Hidden History Museum the permanent home for the Carrick-on-Suir coin hoard. “It's our aspiration to keep them permanently. I would say we have a good chance and we will see in five years.