Parish ‘shocked’ at plan to relocate 500 skeletons

PEOPLE living in the rural Co Laois parish of Cullahill have expressed outrage that the National Roads Authority is pressing ahead with its plan to relocate 500 skeletons uncovered by archaeologists working on the route of the proposed new M7 motorway.

Local priest Fr Willie Hennessy said: “Local people here are shocked that the burial site of their ancestors which remained undisturbed for 1,500 years is now being desecrated.”

Initial investigation by a team of archaeologists suggests that the previously unknown 7th century settlement at Parknahown near Cullahill became a major burial site by the 9th or 10th century.