Kayle Crosson | Staff Writer
Recent construction in front of Trinity College Dublin’s main gate has led to the discovery of human skeletal remains.
The uncovering of the remains on July 16 has caused the construction for the Cross City Luas Line to be temporarily halted as the site is excavated.
The discovery of the bones at the top of College Green was found approximately 1.5 metres into the ground.
Such depth has caused speculation that the remains themselves could date as far back as medieval times.
Professor of Medieval History at Trinity College, Terry Barry, said a source involved in the archaeological dig informed him that a second skull had been found.
“As far as I can ascertain the human skeleton was orientated North-South, rather than East-West, which all Christian burials are orientated.The original report said they were probably medieval, largely based on the fact that it was found at 1.5 metres down, but it could also be Viking Age as the burial orientation is pre-Christian,” he explained.
Professor Barry said if the remains do turn out to be medieval, they could be part of the burials associated with All Hallows Augustinian religious house, which Trinity College was given by Queen Elizabeth I after the dissolution of the monasteries.
In a comment to The University Times, Trinity’s Communications Department has emphasised that as independent archaeologists are excavating the skeletal remains, Trinity will pursue no further direct involvement: “The remains were discovered by a contractor working for the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) on the Luas project, outside the Trinity College boundary.
There will be an archaeological report to the RPA in due course and this may provide some additional information.
We will be seeking this report, but Trinity at this point has no direct involvement in the matter and is therefore not in a position to comment further”.
The Luas Cross City Line is expected to be finished in the second half of 2017, and will connect both the red and green Luas Lines.
