Body of unidentified man buried in Cork

The man buried in St Finbarr’s cemetery in Glasheen died in St Stephen’s Hospital in Glanmire in September 2021.

The body of an unknown man who died at a Cork hospital in 2021 has been buried in a Cork city cemetery as efforts continue to identify him.

Meanwhile, the remains of another unknown man buried in Bandon are set to be exhumed shortly for DNA profiling.

Both are included in the spreadsheet of 44 unidentified human remains published by the Department of Justice last May.

The man buried in St Finbarr’s cemetery in Glasheen died in St Stephen’s Hospital in Glanmire in September 2021. Despite attempts to establish his identity while he was alive, he died without his name being known.

He died of natural causes, according to the findings of a post-mortem examination.

A garda spokeswoman confirmed his identity has still not been established, adding: “This remains an open investigation.” 

Meanwhile, gardaí also said that the identity of a man found in the river at the Lee Fields in July 2009 remains unknown.

Coroner for South Cork, Frank O’Connell, confirmed that the case was discussed in recent days with a member of An Garda Siochána dealing with the case. He said he is currently awaiting a formal request from Gardaí for “exhumation for DNA and ID purposes”.

There are no descriptive details regarding clothing or other features included in the human remains database relating to the man. However, he was found wearing a Philip Mercier silver watch with a gold face. Wooden rosary beads and three religious medals were also found on his person, as well as a Good Luck medal in the shape of a horseshoe, on which was etched the name MacGinty.

The development in the case comes as information filed by coroners on the statistics for each coronial district is being compiled by the Department of Justice, with an expansion to the database published last May expected to be made this coming May.

The details of the 44 human remains —  including location and date of discovery, and any distinctive aspects such as clothing or tattoos — were published on the database last year.

However, the spreadsheet does not include any images.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said: “Where pertinent information has been provided by Coroners in their returns, eg a description of jewellery found on a body, this has been published, and Coroners have been asked to provide images where available in their 2023 returns, which will be included in the database if provided.”