Irish Officials Sought Return of 'Smuggled' Cannons

Rare cannons allegedly smuggled out of Irish waters by a "gang of British treasure hunters" and acquired for a knock-down price by a Tower of London official were at the centre of a decades-long dispute between British and Irish officials, according to newly released records.

- Alexandra Topping

Irish officials made extensive efforts to convince UK authorities to return the bronze cannons after claiming they were "illegally smuggled" from a Waterford shipwreck and sold to the Tower of London.

The cannons were allegedly removed in the early 1970s from a shipwreck off the south-east coast of Ireland, near the Metal Man at Tramore Bay, according to newly released papers from the Irish National Archives in Dublin, reported by PA Media.