What is recorded here

No amount of thinking can solve the quiet tragedy of a human skull dropped into a quarry. Facts may be missing, but the victim is certain. The quarry owner, Garda report and laboratory result all point to one dead man, not a whole lost village.

Human remains found in July 2000 in a quarry at Shanvally, near Tuam, Co. Galway, were reported in February 2001 to the NMI. Due to an outbreak of foot and mouth disease it was not possible to visit the site until June 2001. At that stage no evidence of the burial site was visible. A report from An Garda Síochána, Tuam, stated that a human skull had been noticed at the base of the quarry. The site was subsequently investigated by Gardaí who collected the bone and sent it to the Dept. of Anatomy at NUIG. A further inspection of the site did not reveal any archaeological evidence. The quarry owner reported that he had not encountered any other human remains in the quarry. A report on the skull identified it as that of a male in the 40-50 year range (pers. comm. M. Cahill and M. Sikora, NMI).

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