The 800-year-old skeletal remains of man with a rare genetic disease was reassembled yesterday at the Donegal County Museum in Letterkenny.
Róisín McCarthy, research assistant at Ballyhanna research project at the Institute of Technology in Sligo, began reassembling Ballyhanna Man" in a specially built case in the museum yesterday morning. It is believed the man was between 25 and 35 when he died.
The museum, in conjunction with the National Roads Authority, will present an exhibition Lost And Found - Discovering the Past on the N15 Bundoran-Ballyshannon Bypass.
Opening on December 7th, it features the work and finds discovered during excavations along the route of the bypass two years ago. More than 1,200 skeletons were uncovered and excavated in the medieval church and graveyard at Ballyhanna.
According to assistant curator Caroline Carr, the skeleton is rare and unusual as he suffered from a genetic disease called diaphyseal aclasia or hereditary multiple exostoses, a disorder of bone growth..
Ms Carr said: "There are only six archaeological examples from throughout the world and the Ballyhanna case is the first reported example from Ireland."
Among the finds in the cemetery, which had probably been in use for 200 years, were three silver coins dating from 1250 to 1300.
It was the subsequent discovery of the church though which had been "lost in the ether of history" that sent waves of excitement through the archaeology world.