The discovery was made in the Baylet area of Inch Island and is believed to date from the Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age, which in Ireland commenced about 7000 BC and continued until 4000 BC.

Eddie Harkin from the society said the highly polished axe head measuring approximately five inches by two inches and fashioned from a type of stone known as gabbro, was found in a ploughed field close to the southern shore of Lough Swilly.

According to Eddie, the axe head is the latest in a series of stone and flint artefacts dating from the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age periods discovered by the group at this location over the past number of years.

Tommy Gallagher, another group member, says that given the vast amount and diversity of the artefacts collected from this particular site, it must have been a favoured place for settlement by our prehistoric ancestors for thousands of years.

As all archaeological artefacts found in the Republic of Ireland belong to the state, the find will now be reported to the National Museum in Dublin.