Over 1,500 human skeletons, thought to date from Norman times, have been exhumed from an archaeological dig at the site of a proposed petrol station in Cabinteely, in south Co Dublin.
The burial site is thought to be the second largest of its kind excavated, coming second only to Ardfert Cathedral.
Work at the site, which has been the subject of an archaeological examination since 1994, has now been completed and the remains have been removed to the National Museum where an analysis is under way. Although artefacts and bones have been found on site since the 1930s, it was not until earlier this year that the dig unearthed substantial remains located on a spot where two bungalows had been removed.
The excavation, carried out by a team of archaeologists under licence from ochas, Duchas, the Heritage Service, was conducted on the site of the proposed Esso service station on the northbound side of the N11, south of Cabinteely. An archaeological consultancy firm, Margaret Gowen & Company Ltd, was employed to oversee the work.
Esso has been fully supportive of the excavation, according to Ms Niamh Wood, public affairs manager with Esso Ireland. It funded the work, including the off-site analysis and the preparation of a report which will be made available to the public.
"All materials and artefacts recovered have now been handed over to the National Museum of Ireland to form part of the national archive," Ms Wood told The Irish Times yesterday.
"The analysis is now under way but already we know it was a find of major consequence," she said. "It appears that while there were some clerical remains it was not an ecclesiastical cemetery as such, but a cemetery for Norman people." Ms Wood said she expected the publication detailing the find would be available in about a month.
