A major archaeological find has been made on Croghan Hill, near Tullamore, Co Offaly. The 769-foot hill, 10 miles north-east of Tullamore, has traditionally been regarded as one of the country's most sacred places.
Work has unearthed a large number of skeletons, which may date from early Christian times. Finds on the site include iron slag. The find was made on the farm of Peter and Jennifer Moore, who had planned to develop the area as an equestrian arena. During the preparatory work the skeletons were uncovered.
The work was being carried out under the supervision of an archaeologist employed by the Moores as part of the planning permission.
Mr Moore, an agricultural consultant, said the work had just started when the bones began to appear. "At first we were unsure, but then we found that we had nine skeletons and immediately we found more, 13 in all. The archaeologists say there may even be hundreds," he said.
Work stopped immediately and the Garda, the National Monuments Section of the Office of Public Works and the National Museum were informed. "We thought at first that we were looking at a Famine grave, but the archaeologists tell us they are much earlier and could date back to early Christian times, even as early as 400 AD," Mr Moore said. "We also found iron slag, the spoil from iron works which indicated that there must have been some form of early iron working there." The discovery was confirmed by a spokesman for the OPW National Monuments Section, who said the site had been identified as a Christian burial place, but it was too early to say from what era.
"We have now designated the site as a national monument and the site will be covered over until such time as we are able to carry out further investigations." he said.
News of the find in Croghan travelled fast and many people went to view the site last weekend because of the reputation of the hill as a site for ancient monuments.
It is topped by an ancient cairn, which has never been excavated and is thought to date back to 2000 BC. In ancient poetry it is referred to as Laoidh na Leacht.
The find was made a short distance from ancient standing stones which lie under the hill fort just below the ancient cairn.
Mr Moore said the most recent find is only a mile from a medieval village on the west side of the hill which is beside the remains of the O'Connor castle.
On the hill too are what most people believe are the remains of Macaille's church and a graveyard. A second church, old Croghan church, is thought to have replaced Macaille's church and two holy wells.
In the 1940s an old bog road made of planks, four to five feet long and pinned together with pegs, was uncovered during turfcutting. This has increased speculation that the hill was a place of pilgrimage in early Christian times. The hill also has associations with St Brigid.
She was reputed to have been born nearby and to have performed a miracle there so that she could cross the bogs which lie around the hill.