2001:771 - LIMERICK: Abbey River/George’s Quay, Limerick

Archaeological excavations and monitoring continued on the riverbed in Limerick in early 2001. Summaries of the two previous years’ work around the Abbey River are described in Excavations 1999, No. 515, and Excavations 2000, No. 589. The work conducted in 2001 largely consisted of final monitoring of the grading of the riverbed, the removal of the bunds and excavations associated with sewer connections. The findings from this work add to but alter few of the conclusions and summaries described in the 1999 and 2000 volumes.

The recovery of a sizeable collection of artefacts from the bed of the Abbey River remains one of the most significant contributions of the Limerick Main Drainage Scheme to archaeology. These include artefacts dating from the Viking Age to the present day, and new and unexpected finds continue to be identified from the collection as the final post-excavation work continues.

One such discovery, a pistol, from the bed of the Abbey River, dates from the later end of Limerick’s history. The handgun was manufactured by Ceska Zbrojovka. It was first identified by the letters CS on the handle and is a VZ 24 model (VZ or vzor stands for the English word ‘model’). The pistol was manufactured in large numbers in the city of Strakonice in the present-day Czech Republic. The VZ 24 was produced from 1924 to 1939, and also under the German occupation from 1939 to 1945, in two calibres, 7.65mm Browning and 9mm Kurz (short). Unfortunately there are no records left as the SS troops destroyed all the existing records in 1945.

Although the make and model of the gun allow us to define the date and provenance of its manufacture, its discovery in Ireland begs other questions relating to how this came to pass. The possibility of the find representing archaeological evidence for a German agent based in the mid-west during World War II cannot be discounted. It would seem that understanding the function underlying the context and provenance of artefacts from the 20th century is as problematic as addressing the same archaeological question in respect of other artefacts from riverbeds from the more remote prehistoric past. Professor Richard Bradley’s (1990) book, The passage of arms, looks at issues relating to the deposition of high-status prehistoric metalwork in watery places. A resonance with a 20th-century handgun with the Abbey River in Limerick is somewhat unexpected.

Reference
Bradley, R. 1990 The passage of arms. Cambridge.

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