A 300-YEAR-OLD ceremonial mace given to Drogheda town by King William of Orange after the Battle of the Boyne, and which had been held together with what appeared to be a roofing nut, has been restored and goes on public display this week.
After being painstakingly restored by a silversmith, the mace has had just over 5cm (2in) added to its length. It is believed that the artefact, which is made of beaten silver, had “been handled for so many years that it had become shorter than its original length,” said a council spokesman.
Now the council hopes that what was a gift to the town nine years after the Battle of the Boyne will become a tourist attraction for members of the Orange Order.
“It was used to designate first royal power and latterly civic power and, during the War of Independence, it was spirited away for safekeeping . . . really the history of this gift makes it all the more intriguing,” said mayor of Drogheda Michael O’Dowd.
The mace had been put into safe storage in the early 1900s but will go on display in the Highlanes Gallery in Drogheda.
The artefact was made in 1699 by Dublin silversmith Thomas Bolton. It was given by King William to the town to replace an earlier mace believed to have been melted down by King James to pay his troops.
The mace shows the rose, thistle, harp and the fleur-de-lis, each set between the letters WR Wilhelmus Rex (King William). The words engraved on the head mean “shame on him who thinketh evil.”
“Three hundred years and much history later, we can as a town proudly display the mace which has been restored to its former glory,” Mr O’Dowd said.
In another unusual twist to the story, the Highlanes Gallery is a former church which has been deconsecrated and was, unknown to its then owners the Franciscan order, used to store IRA weapons.
The mace will be on display alongside a sword of state and scabbard, also gifts from William of Orange. The exhibition opens on Thursday Orange Order members are expected to attend.