National Monuments personnel in South Kilkenny to explore this week’s discovery of skeletal remains

Gardaí have confirmed to KCLR that skeletal remains have been found in South Kilkenny.

The discovery was made by a farmer clearing his land in the Beatin area of the Linguan Valley, close to Piltown, on Tuesday – while removing topsoil he found what appeared to be human remains.

He reported the find to Thomastown Garda Station on Wednesday and the scene was preserved for a number of hours.

Supt Anthony Farrell says the area’s known to have burial tombs, telling KCLR News “Gardaí consulted with the National Monuments and State Pathologist and are satisfied it is not concerning or indeed suspicious from a garda perspective, National Monuments did inform An Garda Síochána the site concerned is a cist burial chamber likely to be from the Bronze Age era, similar chambers were discovered in the adjoining Piltown in the past”.

He adds “National Monuments are in attendance at the scene and are exploring the find from a historical perspective, from a garda perspective it’s deemed not suspicious or not concerning and it’s really just from a historical perspective that the National Monuments section have come down to attend the scene and make further exploration”.

The Coroner for Kilkenny, Tim Kiely, was informed of the circumstances and the outcome of Garda enquiries.

For those who might come across similar findings, Supt Farrell has this advice “If people do discover bones on their land please advise An Garda Síochána where in turn we can consult with the National monuments section and indeed the State Pathologist with a view to establishing if they’re historical or not”.