- Shanvally, Co. Galway, Galway

The discovery of human remains in a quarry at Shanvally, near Tuam, Co. Galway, was reported in February 2001 to the NMI by Prof. Jean Folan-Curran, Dept of Anatomy, NUIG.¹¹² The remains had been found in July 2000. The site was inspected by Mary Cahill in June 2001—it was not possible to visit it earlier owing to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease that year. At that stage no evidence of the burial site was visible. A report from An Garda Síochána, Tuam, stated that a human skull had been noticed at the base of the quarry. The site was investigated by Gardaí, who collected the bone and sent it to NUIG. A further inspection of the site did not reveal any archaeological evidence. The quarry-owner reported that he had not encountered any other human remains in this quarry. A report on the human remains provided by Dr M.N. O’Neill, Lecturer in Anatomy, NUIG, identified them as those of a male in the 40–50-year age range. This was suggested by the fusion of the sphenooccipital suture, which indicates an age in excess of 25 years, while the partial obliteration of the skull sutures suggests an age of 40–50. There was no evidence of ante-mortem trauma. The animal remains included a cannon-bone of a sheep or goat limb, an ulna of sheep or goat, the mandible of a rat and five teeth in a sheep/goat mandible. Only one monument, a ringfort, has been identified in the townland of Shanvally.¹¹³

112. Parish of Tuam, barony of Dunmore. SMR GA030-130——. IGR 150858 255710.
113. SMR GA030-122——.