Going out at the inlet at Innishroosk on Upper Lough Erne, for me there is almost a feeling of trepidation. Mainly because of the mystery and intrigue of times long past, but in a strange way they still linger amongst the many islands dotted like hopscotch on Upper Lough Erne.

Some of these have medieval fortifications like Naan Island, Corrard and opposite Innishleague is Castle Hill on Innishcreenery and in the distance, dominating the skyline, the prehistoric landscape of Cuilcagh.

The McGoldrick’s acquired Innishleague in 1914 from John Porter-Porter of Belle Isle. At one time there were five houses on the island and according to Shane McGoldrick, their main means of living was livestock which included pigs and fishing of which they smoked at their homestead. Flax was also grown on the island for the production of linen. A cot ferried livestock from an ancient right of way from Innishcreenery to Innishleague.

On the summit of the island lies a large oval rath, indeed some of the locals still refer to this area as "The Graveyard". It was not always unusual for burials to take place inside a rath. Who these are remains a mystery. Also hidden amongst briars lies a bullaun stone possibly indicating a religious theme for blessings or cures.

The headline in the Northern Whig and Belfast Post 28th February, 1935 was what piqued my interest. “Two boys named McGoldrick while playing on Innishleague Island, found two swords of the Bronze Period. They are in a good state of preservation and measure 21.5 inches long”.

The two swords in question were found in 1933 by John McGoldrick aged 12 and his younger brother Micky. Shane says his father, John used to swim up and down the shore and in the Summer of 1933 they found both swords sticking up on the shoreline in reeds some 200 yards from their homestead. Shane believes his father got approximately 30 shilllings for the two swords from Belfast Museum.

In the catalogue of Bronze Age Swords of Ireland by George Eogan, they are classified as Class 4 leaf shaped blades with a horned handle with rivet holes. One is described as having blunt edges the other with damaged edges. Only a suggestion – The swords date to the Late Bronze Age, around 950-750 BC. With sturdy handles and a thicker leaf-shaped blade they were a more powerful weapon than the dagger or rapier which they gradually replaced. The development of the sword along with defended hillforts, and increasing trade networks hints at a developing social order and a new class of a warrior elite.

There were probably about thirty Bronze Age Swords found in the county, most of them in watery conditions i.e. lakes, rivers, bogs … Some of them may be associated with causeways and fords. The two found in the reeds of Innishleague were probably not accidentally dropped but almost certainly a votive offering, a long belief in the rite fulfilling the honour of the divine. Water and Lough Erne in prehistoric times would have been seen as sacred and depositing these two swords was a way of pleasing the gods.

In olden times, people often believed that swallows in the winter dipped into the water and hibernated there until the following spring. In the summer of 1933 nearly 3,000 years later two Bronze Age Swords raise their heads again resurrected by two young boys a statement of our rich and mysterious past.