‘Human hand’ found in bag of coal

A “human hand” found in a bag of coal by a man in Co Cavan is to be examined by forensic detectives.

Father-of-four Alan Purcell was pouring a bag of coal onto the fire at his home in the Woodview Estate in Bailieborough on Friday night when an object, which appears to be a human hand, fell out.

The hand had been cut off at the wrist and its fingers were extended, Mr Purcell said. The coal was bagged in Northern Ireland.

The hand has been sent to garda headquarters for forensic examination.

Gardaí have not confirmed the item as a human hand but Mr Purcell insists he is 95% certain it was.

Mr Purcell, a 35-year-old and originally from Donaghmeade in Dublin, said he was shocked at the discovery.

"I poured the coal into the bucket and then put my hand into the bucket and picked this thing up it looked like a hand.

"I went out the back and rinsed it off. It's from just over the wrist, it was covered in coal but it was a yellowy colour underneath. There was skin still on it."

Mr Purcell's wife Linda was upstairs when she heard her husband's gasps of surprise.

"He got a terrible fright," she said. "My sister was downstairs at the time and they didn't know what it was."

Mr Purcell brought the hand to the local garda station where officers examined it before forwarding it to forensic detectives in the Phoenix Park.

"They said they would get back to me when they find out what it is. I'm 95% sure that it's a hand," said Mr Purcell.

Sgt Philip Fyfe, who is overseeing the investigation, said the 'hand' would be sent to the Forensics State Laboratory in the Phoenix Park for analysis.

"It looks like a squashed glove," he said. "It is rock hard."