Mystery tool ?

[Bangkok Mick]

My Uncle was a thatcher in Ireland and I used to work with him when I was a lad over a summer holiday but I never saw anything like that.
Typically thatchers would sharpen both ends of a length of stick say 750mm long and twist it in the middle to make a U or V shaped nail and nail one lot of straw or reed over the next, I never saw him using tying wire or twine.

[Bangkok Mick]

There is a groove in it similar to a bayonet so application for piercing meat is a high possibility, there is also a hooked end that could be used for pulling a thread or wire back through a hole and a push/pull handle, could it be a butchers implement for sowing up large cuts of meat?