Excavation ready to resume at battle site

Archaelogists are returning to the Battle of Aughrim site in Galway on Monday to unearth more skeletons that may be victims of the bloody battle.

Over the years the battlefield site has sparked particular interest from Orangemen who are keen to see its significance recognised in the same way as the Battle of the Boyne.

Recent interest was generated at the beginning of January when 34 skeletons were excavated by archaeologists who were commissioned to carry out a detailed assessment of Glebe National School, which is located on the battlefield site, before extension work was carried out.

Michael Tierney, director of the Offaly-based Archaeology Company, said that, contrary to recent speculation, it was still too early to say whether the remains unearthed are, in fact, victims of the 1691 battle in which over 7,000 people were killed.

Speaking to the News Letter yesterday, he said the core question he and his colleagues have been asking is whether or not the skeletons are associated with the Battle of Aughrim.

"We are expecting to be on site next Monday doing the final phase of the archaeological excavation," Mr Tierney said.

"We know there are 10 to 12 skeletons there waiting to be excavated because we can see 10 of them."

The school grounds are adjacent to a 19th century Church of Ireland church and rectory and overlies a medieval ecclesiastical settlement.

He said it appears that a majority of the remains excavated are medieval and most likely associated with the Augustinian Abbey, which dates back to the 13th or 14th century.

This, he said, is based on the way the bodies were placed into the ground.

"They are clearly wrapped in a shroud and most of them had their arms across the chests associated with standard Christian burial practices. They were also laid east to west"

He said all the remains would be forensically tested in a few weeks time and for the time being were being kept in offices of the Archaeology company in Birr, Co Offaly.

"From a general point of view they will also be subject to what the police and the gardai do to explain the time and reason for the cause of death," he said.

"Ultimately they will end up in the National Museum of Ireland or else be reburied, which happens in certain circumstances."

The reason there is a question mark over whether all the bodies unearthed partook in the Battle of Aughrim is due to two bodies that were buried higher than the others.

"We think these two bodies may be associated with the Battle of Aughrim because of the way in which they were buried. They are higher up than most of the other human remains which means they were buried more recently and don't appear to have been buried in shrouds."

One of the two bodies, he said, was described by the site director Catriona Gleeson as appearing to have been thrown into a shallow grave.

"The other one of the bodies was facing up and the head was facing down, which would mean it had to have been separate from the body when it was buried."

Mr Tierney revealed that there were also other factors, which had led to there being uncertainty over when the bodies were buried.

"There was a hurricane in the 1960s and when the school was built bodies were also ripped up," he said.

He said he had been "surprised" in recent weeks to learn that no other human remains had been found on or around the Aughrim battlefield site.

Mr Tierney said: "Tb find remains like this is indeed rare on all battlefield sites around the country because of where the battlefields are located. They tend to be in areas where there hasn't been large scale development."

Mr Tierney described Aughrim battlefield site as colossal.

"The N6 is right beside the battlefield site. The battlefield site is massive - the village was at the centre of it," he said.

"As far as I know the Orange Order objected to the route of the motorway because it was so close to the battlefield site,"

With particular reference to the Boyne battlefield site, Mr Tierney said he believes all battlefield sites should be given protection by being accorded the status of recorded monuments.

He added that Glebe National School was required under the Department of Education's direction to have an archaeological assessment carried out on the site before renovation work was carried out. 24th January 2008 News Letter

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Unknown Soldiers - possible combatants from Battle of Aughrim in 1691