After an absence of 160 years, and an impressive piece of latter-day detective work to trace them, the ancient mace and seal of the medieval heritage town of Athenry, Co Galway, were returned at the weekend to the community where they were used in civic business for centuries.
A public ceremony in the town's Market Square on Saturday marked the return of the corporate insignia, as they were formally handed over to the people of Athenry by their most recent custodians, Mr and Mrs Anthony Blishen, of London.
The mace and seal will now go on permanent display as a prime feature in the Heritage Centre set up earlier this year in the former Church of Ireland building in the centre of the town.
Prof Etienne Rynne, the former head of the archaeology department at NUI Galway, said the return of the historic objects may provide a precedent for other Irish towns to search for lost corporate insignia. While significant for the Athenry community, the ceremony also saw Prof Rynne achieve a personal goal.
As a young archaeologist on the staff of the National Museum in Dublin some 36 years ago, he handled and recorded the mace and seal when the owners briefly offered them for expert examination. The age of the objects is uncertain, but they may date back to the 14th century. From 1840 on, when the Ancient Corporation of Athenry was dissolved, they had passed to the Blakeney family, one of whose members is believed to have been the town's last portreeve - the equivalent of mayor. After Mr Rynne became a lecturer in UCG and moved to Athenry, he was drawn into the local effort to recover the insignia for the town. It was known that they had passed to the Blishen family, descendants of the Blakeneys through marriage, but initial efforts to trace the family were unsuccessful.
Then Mr Tom Bermingham, resident in England and an expert on the history of the Berminghams, founders of the town of Athenry in 1235, joined the search. His inquiries through various public records were supplemented by the time-honoured method of methodically telephoning any Blishens in the English telephone directories.
Contact was eventually made with Mr Anthony Blishen, in Richmond, London, who had the mace and seal in his possession. Prof Rynne notes that, fortunately for the people of Athenry, the Blishens considered themselves more as "hereditary keepers" rather than "owners" of the insignia.
They were more than willing to return the treasures to the residents of Athenry "if they were assured of a good home: that is, not locked away in a chest," Prof Rynne added.
The Heritage Centre provided an appropriate setting for public exhibition of the objects, and personal contact between Prof Rynne and the Blishen family led to the ceremonial return of the mace and seal.
On Saturday, Mr Gerry Burke, chairman of Athenry Community Council, formally accepted the insignia from Mr and Mrs Blishen, who were welcomed and thanked by the Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Mr Eamon O Cuiv, and other civic representatives, including the curator of the Heritage Centre, Mr Brian Walsh.
As Athenry's chief elected civic official, Mr Burke is the successor to Mr Blishen's great-great-grandfather, John Blakeney, the town's last portreeve.
The mace is of particular historical importance, being probably the oldest civic mace in these islands. Measuring about 11 inches, it takes the form of a brass clenched fist mounted on a polished wooden handle, and would have been used as a gavel to keep order at corporation meetings.
The smaller brass seal is circular and bears an engraved design of a castle or town gate surmounted by turrets and two bearded human heads fixed on spikes. These, it is surmised, may represent the heads of Phelim O'Connor, King of Connacht, and Teige O'Kelly, King of Ui Maine, both of whom were slain at the Battle of Athenry in 1316 when the native Irish unsuccessfully attacked the Norman town.