Remains of 1,000 people recovered at medieval site

THE skeletal remains of more than a thousand people have been recovered from what experts believe was one of the country’s largest medieval cemeteries.

The ancient bones have produced evidence of several suspected murders and one case of leprosy – an extremely rare occurrence in medieval times.

Osteoarchaeologist Carmelita Troy, of Headland Archaeology in Cork, said yesterday she has studied the ancient remains of nearly 1,300 individuals – adult males and females along with children – who were buried at the site at Ardreigh, Athy, in Co Kildare.