A father and son found a medieval church hoard with metal detectors; the High Court gave them £5.5 million, and the Supreme Court gave the state the hoard

On 17 February 1980 Michael Webb and his son Michael used metal detectors on Derrynaflan, a monastic site in County Tipperary. Under a bronze basin they found a silver chalice, a paten and a strainer ladle. Part of the site was a protected national monument. The landowner had allowed detecting but not digging. On an archaeologist's advice the Webbs took the finds to the National Museum of Ireland, which offered a reward of IR£10,000. They refused it. On 10 December 1986 the High Court ruled that the hoard, or its value of IR£5.5 million, should go to the finders. On 16 December 1987 the Supreme Court reversed. It held that the old royal prerogative of treasure trove had not passed into Irish law, but that the state owned such finds as part of its sovereignty. Because the Webbs had been promised honourable treatment, the court ordered them paid the same as the landowners: IR£25,000 each, IR£50,000 in all. Two of the five judges said they should have received nothing^†. A 1987 law made unlicensed detecting for archaeological objects illegal, and a 1994 law confirmed state ownership. The hoard is on permanent display at the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin.