Medieval metallurgy and a banquet to dig into

DRESSED IN sackcloth, the children are huddled around two authentic-looking medieval craftsmen

DRESSED IN sackcloth, the children are huddled around two authentic-looking medieval craftsmen. The task of the morning at the Hunt Museum medieval camp is to make miniature weapons, tools and jewellery, inspired by items in the museum’s upstairs galleries.

The museum backs on to the Shannon, and sitting on tree stumps in the garden, medieval re-enacter Andrew Clancy and archaeologist John Elliott explain how it’s done. First you make a model out of beeswax and cover it with clay. Next you heat the clay mould on stone slabs, over a tiny outdoor fire, to melt the beeswax. Then you heat the metal and pour it into the empty mould. Once the metal hardens, you break away the clay to reveal your finished piece. It’s a trial and error sort of thing and while many of the pieces are a bit crude, the children learn the process.

The boys – 13 out of the 15 children at the camp are boys – are fascinated by the medieval bronze shields and swords Elliott and Clancy have brought along to show them. Clancy explains how the little axes were used for making beds and chairs and how the leather sling shot was the only weapon that a 10-year-old boy could have killed an adult with. “You could hunt birds with a sling shot and get a stone right across that river,” says Clancy, pointing to the breadth of the Shannon at that point.

Wearing sandals and sack cloth and with beads around their necks, Clancy and Elliott work slowly and methodically. They explain that in medieval times there wasn’t the same concept of worrying about “how long it takes” that plagues modern times. “If you were a farmer, you would have traded 10 cows for a sword or you might have just taken the sword of the man you killed in a fight,” says Clancy.

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Scattered on the rug, there are deer antlers that would have been used for making handles and tools, and there are bronze brooches, pins and neck rings.

“I drew a neck ring and now I’m making one,” explains Eoin, who is eight. He’s looking forward to the medieval feast at lunchtime. “There will be a lot of meat and water for washing my hands because they ate with their hands in medieval times,” he says.

Dominque Bouchard, curator of education and outreach at the Hunt Museum, says the museum is enlivened by camps such as this one. “The objects themselves have limited appeal in their historical context but their value comes from the ability of the collection to inspire children to write and illustrate,” she says. The Hunt Museum won this year’s Primary Times magazine award for the best summer camps in Munster.

Later in the day, the campers make their own shields, write their names in Runes (Viking lettering) and Ogham (the old Irish alphabet) and try their hand at fencing as they pretend to be medieval knights. It’s all quite playful but the children are evidently interested in medieval times.

“It’s really good. I like learning about the Middle Ages,” says 11-year-old Diarmuid, who has travelled from Oughterard in Co Galway for today’s camp. His cousin Cian, who is also 11, is another enthusiast. “We’ve visited Craggaunowen in Co Clare and Aughnanure Castle where our ancestors the O’Flahertys lived,” he says.

The boys are already knowledgeable about the era and as they dig into their medieval lunch, they say “it was polite to burp but they weren’t allowed to dip bread in their soup. They would have eaten boar legs and pheasant and had musicians playing on a balcony above the dining room,” says Diarmuid.

The medieval camp is part of a week-long celebration of all things medieval in Limerick city. Elliott says there is a revival of interest in Limerick’s medieval heritage. “There have been more than 180 excavations of the walls of Limerick since 1975,” he explains.

“The medieval core of the city would have included the 13th-century English town and the 15th-century Irishtown, divided by the Abbey River, a tributary of the River Shannon. Limerick was the last crossable point on the Shannon and everything faced the river, so if you held Limerick, you held all trade coming down the Shannon. The 13th-century King John’s Castle and the 12th-century St Mary’s Cathedral are pivotal medieval buildings.

Hugh Maguire, the director of the Hunt Museum, points to the Medieval Limerick leaflet that was published this year as a reference for visitors. “John and Gertrude Hunt were very keen on medieval Ireland. He rekindled an interest in Irish medieval sculpture, and was involved in archaeological excavations and the refurbishment of Bunratty Castle,” says Maguire. “The medieval collection, although disparate and eclectic, is one of the strongest collections in the museum.”


On Saturday, at the Hunt Museum, Custom House, Rutland Street, Limerick from 1pm-5pm, archaeologist John Elliott and Andrew Clancy from the Mogh Roith living history group will give demonstrations on how medieval tools, weaponry and jewellery were made and used. Admission is free and no advance booking is required.

This week's lunchtime lecture series on Limerick's medieval heritage continues with a talk on the "Secret History of the O'Dea Mitre and Crozier" at 1pm today and "Staged Development, Imperfect Realisation: Interpreting King John's Castle" at 1pm tomorrow. 061-312833. See huntmuseum.com