Skull and bones found during excavation of Sligo Courthouse

Further discoveries of human bones were made yesterday at Sligo Courthouse where a major refurbishment project is under way. A skull and some bones were discovered by workmen in an area close to where a headless skeleton was found earlier this week.

Mr Eoin Halpin, of Archaeological Development Services, who is examining the remains, said it was too soon to say if the new find was related to the skeleton found earlier. There is local speculation that the remains belong to an inmate, or inmates, of Sligo jail. The prison occupied the site on Teeling Street from 1838 until 1878, when the courthouse was built. However, Mr Halpin questioned this theory. He pointed out that the skeleton had been buried in a substantial wooden coffin and had a classic Christian burial with the body facing in an east-west direction. It was also buried very close to a public building, and therefore the burial would have had to be paid for.

"None of this suggests that this was a convict who had been put in the ground," he said.

From his preliminary investigations, Mr Halpin believes that the skeleton is male and dates to the late 18th/early 19th century. "The detective work will start now to find an identity for this person," Mr Halpin said. "I am reasonably confident that he will turn up somewhere on some file. There is a whole human story there, waiting to be told."

Sligo Courthouse has been undergoing major renovation since February. The £5 million project will provide comprehensive court facilities for the area.

Because the building is in a zone of archaeological potential, an archaeologist is on hand. The courthouse caretaker, Mr Frankie Brannigan, has been watching the developments with interest. When he started working in the building over 20 years ago, he was warned about a headless ghost which roamed the building.

"They always said that this place was haunted, and people in the District Court office used to tell stories about a headless ghost. It used to be eerie at times," he said.