On this day in 1987, RTE News reported that a 1,000-year old block of cheese (or perhaps butter), weighing 45kg, had been found in a bog in Cloughjordan.
The produce was wrapped in the gut of a large animal and a wicker handle, still partially in tact, was used to carry it. It was buried fairly shallow as the layer of bog directly above the wrapper was completely in tact. A period of a thousand years of bog growth then sealed it in. Remarkably, the produce was still edible when it was found due to the preservation qualities of peat bog.
The find was made by Paddy Coughlan and Dan O’Connor on farmland at Glenahilty, near Cloughjordan.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 2 July 1987 regarding the find and you can click on the link below to watch it:
