The Coggalbeg treasure is an early Bronze Age collection of goldwork jewelry dating from approximately 2300-2000 B.C. It was unearthed in a swamp located in Coggalbeg, in the Irish county of Roscommon, in 1945. This treasure consists of a gold moon-shaped ornament (resembling a half moon) and two small gold discs. The discs are decorated with patterns featuring a cross inside two circles. These pieces are flat, thin, and collectively weigh less than 78 grams (approximately 2.8 ounces), suggesting that they were likely intended to be part of a necklace.
The discovery of this treasure was made in 1945 by Hubert Lannon while he was cutting sod on his property in Roscommon. Following the discovery, the treasure was stored in a safe at Sheehan's Chemists in Strokestown starting from 1947. During this time, only members of the Sheehan family had access to it. However, there was a break-in at the pharmacy, and the safe containing the treasure was stolen. In April 2009, the Irish police (Garda Síochána) discovered the paper-wrapped items in a trash container. It is believed that the thieves were primarily interested in cash and were unaware of the valuable items they had discarded.
Today, the Coggalbeg treasure is housed in the National Museum of Ireland, where it is on permanent display. Mary Cahill of the museum has noted the significance of these objects as they represent a rare association between discs and lunula, with the discs being some of the earliest examples of gold jewelry and the lunula being slightly later in origin. Of the approximately 100 European lunula known in Western Europe, about 80 have been found in Ireland. In 2017, these three objects were featured on an Irish postage stamp as part of a series showcasing the history of Ireland through 100 objects.
