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HEROIC COMBAT IN ANCIENT IRELAND.
231
No. 41.
ANCIENT BRONZE SHIELD.
across the back of the central boss. On the back of the shield, in the third circle from the rim, are two bits of bronze so riveted that the heads of the rivets form two of the small obverse bosses. These bits of bronze served to sling the shield over the shoulders. [Figures 40 and 41 represent the face and back of this shield.] The central boss or umbilicus of some Irish shields must have been formed by a spike which could be thrust into the face of an enemy. This was, perhaps, the Gilech cuach coicrindi or flesh mangling cup-Gilech or cup-spear, which was on the speckled blow-dealing shield of Laeghaire Baadach."—O'Currys "Manners and Customs."
