Metal detectors and bare hands — how this early-medieval Irish treasure was discovered

The Derrynaflan Hoard is believed to have been hidden from viking raids in the 10th-12th centuries and was found by a father and son in 1980

Derrynaflan monastic site, and the Derrynaflan Hoard

When Michael Webb and his son, Mike, visited the early Christian site at Derrynaflan on February 17, 1980, they had no idea that the day would change their lives forever. Shrouded by the mists of time, Derrynaflan is a remote, early Christian monastic site on a fertile island surrounded by the vastness of Lurgoe Bog. Situated near Killenaule, County Tipperary, the area had remained undisturbed and almost forgotten for centuries, but this was about to change.

Michael Webb jnr and his father Michael Webb who found the Derrynaflan Chalice