What is recorded here

Children playing in a Ballinlough sandpit in June 1949 triggered a section collapse that exposed human remains on the highest point of an esker ridge. They told the Gardaí at Stradbally, prompting a coroner’s examination and museum acquisition, while the lost person and the circumstances of the burial withdrew from knowledge.

The files of the National Museum of Ireland records that in June 1949 human remains were discovered in a sand pit at Ballinlough, near Stradbally, Co. Laois (Cahill & Sikora 2011, vol. 2, 487). The remains were discovered by children playing in the sandpit, who reported the find to the Gardaí at Stradbally. The remains came to light following the collapse of a section of the pit, and thus their original location in the section is not known. The remains were examined by the Coroner, and the site was investaigated by P.J. Hartnett and Joseph Raftery. According to their report, the site was an esker ridge, c. 134m above sea level, and the burial was located at the highest point. Although it was not possible to establish any further details as to the burial, the remains were acquired by the Museum (NMI File). It is not clear if this is the same location as the sand pit where several extended skeletons (LA013-050) were recorded by Etienne Rynne in 1962 or whether they came from a second sand pit (NGR 254008/199186) located 350m to the N in close proximity to Dunamase House. Compiled by Caimin O'Brien Date of upload / revision : 10 August 2012

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