County: Cork Site name: GREENMOUNT, South Ward, Cork
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Stella Cherry, National Museum of Ireland, Dublin
Site type: Burial
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 566838m, N 571046m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.890590, -8.481777
In July 1990 human remains were uncovered in the back garden of a private residence in Greenmount, Cork City. The original ground level of the garden was almost 2m higher than the ground level of the house. It was while reducing the level of the garden that bones were discovered.
The exposed earth was over 1.5m high at its highest point. It consisted of a dark coloured band of refuse material - glass, pottery, tin cans and metal and varied in depth from 0.11m to 0.48m. Beneath this was a brown silt layer which extended to present ground level. Within this silt layer at a depth of 0.85m from the surface was a compact layer some 0.1m deep which may have been a pathway which traversed the site. At a depth of 0.18m to 0.2m below this was a 20mm-40mm band of red brick and mortar fragments. A band of broken slates lay 0.16m-0.18m further down. The human remains were 0.1 7m-0.2m under the broken slates, at depths ranging from 1.1m–1.4m below the surface.
At least 15 individuals were recovered from the area. None of the skeletons was complete and many of the bones were broken. In one area all the long bones were stacked neatly together with the skulls lying close by. No evidence of a delimiting pit was uncovered - it is likely the grave covers a substantial area and the pit walls lie beneath neighbouring gardens. There were no associated finds.
