Irish farmer finds 60kg slab of ancient bog butter on his land by ‘pure luck’

A strange object with a “cheesy” smell turned out to be an ancient find, one of the largest of its kind in Ireland.

Often, ancient discoveries emerge from archaeological sites, but sometimes they can be found right in your own backyard.

So went the story of Micheal Boyle.

Boyle was doing chores on his farm in County Donegal when he found what turned out to be an ancient bog butter slab.

In ancient times, dairy or animal fat was buried in bogs for preservation or put into a wooden container as an offering to the gods or spirits, according to The Irish News.

The bog butter slab on Boyle’s farm had a small piece of wood on the bottom, Boyle told the Irish Examiner.

This probably indicates that the marsh butter once lay in a wooden container that has since decomposed.

The discovery of bog butter is quite common in Ireland and Scotland, with around 500 finds recorded in Ireland.

This find was particularly unique in its sheer size and may well be “one of the largest pieces of bog butter found in Ireland to date,” according to Paula Harvey, an archaeologist who visited the site, according to The Irish News.

Chunks of marsh butter are usually about the size of a mixing bowl.

Harvey explained, but that was between 22kg and 25kg (about 48 and 55 lbs.) in weight, according to The Irish Examiner.

“It was just pure luck that we met him,” Boyle said, via the Irish Examiner.

Boyle explained to the medium that he saw something about a foot on the ground and was quickly overcome by a “cheese smell”.

Immediately Boyle said he knew what he had discovered.

“It tastes like butter, an unsalted butter. I had a piece and I’m still here to tell the tale,” Harvey said of the find, according to The Irish News.

Historians say the ancient bog butter may date back to the Bronze Age, according to the Irish Examiner, but more research is being done at the National Museum of Ireland.

It is hoped that once the analysis is complete it will go on display at the Kilclooney Dolmen Centre.

“The butter plate meant nothing to anyone visiting a national institution,” Harvey explained, according to The Irish News , “but it certainly meant a lot to the local community here in south-west Donegal.”