Irish elk antler
Category
Natural History / Animals, Plants & Fossils
Date
12000 BC - 8000 BC
Materials
Antler, skull and bone
Measurements
11.8 feet (Width)
Order this imageCollection
Mount Stewart, County Down
NT 837396
Summary
A set of Irish Deer antlers and skull- Megalocerus Giganteus. A tradition in the family says these were found in the bogs behind the house but they were in fact bought from a dealer called Glennon in Dublin, c1855, by Frederick 4th marquess of Londonderry. Lord Powerscourt, Frederick’s step-son, wrote a “History of the Stags’ HHeads, Pictures etc at Mount Stewart” in 1898 (PRONI: D/654/B5/3). Of the two giant Irish Deer antlers he says: "The Stags Heads in the Great Hall are – with the exception of two, which have black skulls and horns, all German. Those two which are in the row under the central Dome, are ancient Irish Heads, red deer, found in some bog in Ireland. These two were bought by Frederick 4th Marquis of Londonderry in 1855 or 1856, from Glennon, naturalist in Wicklow Street, Dublin. This shop has disappeared."
Provenance
Accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the National Trust, 2013