Burial ground in Ballina (tirawley By.)

Located on the W side of Ballina town, in a public green area known as Mercy Park, flanked to the W and E by housing estates, bordered to N by a road, and on the S by a road to the S of which are the grounds of Ballina Hospital. At this location is a rectangular public park (c. 100m E–W; c. 80m N–S). According to local tradition, it is the site of a Famine-era burial ground associated with a Union workhouse and fever hospital, which were located to S at the site of the present-day hospital. The original extent of the burial ground is unclear; no above ground boundaries remain. A scattering of uninscribed stone grave-markers could still be seen here in the early to mid-20th century, but these no longer survive. According to local information, human burials were uncovered, but not recorded, during ground works in the late 20th-century. In January 2009 two further burials were partly exposed during exploratory trenching in the NE quadrant of the park in advance of the laying of sewage pipes. The exposed bones included the finger bones, pelvis, and leg bones of an adult individual, and, immediately adjacent at the N, the leg bones of a second adult. Both burials were aligned E-W. No traces of coffins or grave cuts were evident. The bones were recorded by an archaeologist and reburied, and the pipeline was re-routed. Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 30 January 2015