30 Spring 2021 IN HIS 1969 PAPER on Irish antiquarian finds and collections Michael Herity (1969, 21–5) asked an interesting question: was there a third Tara torque? Herity was referring to a pair of very large, heavy, flange-twisted gold torcs with unique gold bar extensions said to be from the iconic site of Tara, Co. Meath (Fig. 1). His question arose from a copy of a trade card or prospectus from the goldsmith and jeweller Matthew West of Skinner’s Row (now Christchurch Place), Dublin, held in the National Library of Wales that illustrates the torcs (Fig. 2). The card, which bears notes in an unknown hand, is in a collection of papers once owned by English antiquarian and collector Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick; Herity, based on information in Meyrick’s Collectanea de rebus Celticis (NLW MSS 5387E), deduced that the card dates from 1810–15 and that the notes were written by Matthew West but this is not at all certain. The card illustrates two gold flange- twisted torcs and a gold dress-fastener or fibula. One of the notes on the card reads as follows: ‘These torcs were found at Tarra— and one, —other which was purchased by the Bishop of Derry who sold it in London’ The punctuation is important here. Herity reproduced the quote from the card as ‘… and one other …’, while the correct version, ‘… and one, —other …’, may suggest a different interpretation. Curiously, the card itself does not mention Tara or give any provenance for the three objects illustrated, referring only to ‘Antique Irish Ornaments’, although it might be assumed that an association with Tara would have been of great significance and would have enhanced their value. Did the writer of the notes mean one other torc or one other gold object of some other type? This remains an open question. There is no mention of a third torc in any early account of the discovery, such as this report from the Freeman’s Journal of 3 July 1813, signed with the initials ‘H.E.J.’ and dated 4 June 1813: ‘Antiquities The Irish Torques Two specimens of this ancient and Mary Cahill and John Ó Néill A tortuous tale— a new twist on the torcs from ‘Tara’ Were the ‘Tara torcs’ found at Tara and what happened to them after their discovery? Above: Fig. 1—Two gold flange-twisted torcs, Co. Meath; NMI W173, W192 (© National Museum of Ireland). Opposite page: Fig. 2—Trade card of Matthew West titled ‘Antique Irish Gold Ornaments’, c. 1813 (© National Library of Ireland).