What is recorded here

Gallows Green in Cork City kept fifteen sets of broken bones stacked like firewood beneath a private garden. Men lowered the ground to make room for flowers, exposing skulls that waited patiently for human eyes. The dead had been rearranged before anyone forgot their names, turning sorrow into a pile of white chips.

Mass grave discovered when old ground level was lowered to enlarge existing garden at rear of of private residence in Greenmount. Excavated by Stella Cherry (NMI), July 1990. Remains of at least fifteen individuals, 1m to 1.5m below ground level, were removed. All bones were disarticulated, many were broken and in most cases stacked into neat piles with skulls lying close by and could not represent original placement of bodies. No trace of delimiting pit evident. Until latter half of 19th century this area known as 'Gallows Green' (1842 OS 6-inch map). (Cherry 1991, 20) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 2: East and South Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1994). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009 An account of this monument has been published in: Cahill, M. & Sikora, M. (2011) Breaking ground, finding graves- reports on the excavations of burials by the National Museum of Ireland, 1927-2006. vol. 2, 307-318. Compiled by: Denis Power Date of upload: 17 August 2012

A medieval mass grave; significance relates to evidence of communal burial practices and possible historical events such as plague or conflict in the Cork area.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.