Ce modèle de navire en or a été retrouvé à la fin du XIXe siècle au sein d’un dépôt votif, à Broighter dans le Derry, au nord de l’Irlande. Le trésor de Broighter se compose du navire, d’un petit bol, de 2 torques et d’un collier.

Il n’a été publié qu’en 1920 mais il est exposé en permanence au Musée National d’Irlande à Dublin.

De style très simple, le navire comporte un mat, un gouvernail, des rames, des bancs de rameurs, et même une gaffe. Aucun ornement ne vient perturber ces éléments fonctionnels.

Cette barque pourrait représenter un bateau en peau. Un extrait du Periphus (VIe av. J.-C.) dans le poème Ora maritima d’Avienus (IVe ap. JC) précise que les marins audacieux et compétents de l’ouest de l’Armorique naviguaient sur des bateaux en cuir pour effectuer le trafic de d’étain et de plomb entre l’Irlande et la Grande Bretagne.

L’Irlande est tellement fière de cette oeuvre qu’elle s’en est inspirée pour crée une pièce commémorative en 2002
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commemorative_coins_of_Ireland

The name "Broighter" is the name of a townland in County Derry, near the town of Limavady. It is in this townland where 1896 the Broighter Hoard, a "treasure trove" of celtic gold, was found. The Broighter Hoard (or Broighter Gold) consisted of a model boat, a small bowl, two torcs and a collar embossed with early Celtic decorations.

The boat is astonishing simple in its style, but at the same time contains everything you would expect from such a functional item. It has a mast, a rudder, oars, seats and even a boathook. It is of highest quality, being made of gold, but there are no frills or ornaments to distract from its functionality.

An account of the artefacts found was given by the late E.C.R. Armstrong, F.S.A., and was first published in 1920. The account stated that the find included a model boat with thwarts, a mast, steering oar, grappling iron, three forked instruments, two square-ended, thirteen leaf-shaped oars, a hollow collar with repoussé ornament, a bowl, a solid gold torque, about one half of a similar torque, a necklace made of three plaited chains and another made of a single chain. The two chains were inside the collar, the oars were inside the boat.

The boat is made of a single sheet of gold plate, slit and rejoined at the stern and prow. It measures 7.4 inches in length by 3.1 in breadth and 1.9 inches high. Originally it contained nine benches for oarsmen, but the first of these is missing. The centre seat, rather broader than the others, is pierced in the centre for the insertion of the mast. Provision is made for rowlocks by movable wire rings attached to the side of the boat. On the left side of the stern is another movable ring to serve as a rowlock for the steering oar. Fifteen oars and the steering oar have been preserved ; each oar measures about 2.8 inches.