Flood waters cause the exposure of skeletal remains embedded in a riverbank at Swords.
The bodies of a woman and an infant have been discovered by archaeologists in Swords, County Dublin. The remains were found on a riverbank in Swords in what is believed to be a medieval rubbish dump.
Gardaí have been called in to protect the site until the excavation is complete.
The discovery was made after flooding eroded the banks of the River Ward in Swords.
As the flood waters receded, a human skull was exposed embedded in the river bank.
The scene was first checked by Gardaí and the Assistant State Pathologist before archaeologists moved in to investigate further. They discovered the bones of an infant buried beside the woman. Connie Kelleher, Joint Director at Duchas, says indications are that it could have been a multiple burial site. Archaeologists have established that the woman's skeleton dates from the 13th or 14th century but the circumstances of her death have yet to be established.
Karl Brady from the Duchas underwater unit says that they do not know who this woman was but the position of the body at the bottom of a rubbish heap may indicate that she was a social outcast or possibly the victim of a plague.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 22 November 1999. The reporter is Flor MacCarthy.
