In April 1964, two young men from Cork were working on the building of a new church in the seaside resort of Enniscrone, Sligo. On their day off, they went exploring along the sand dunes where they stumbled upon the remains of a human skeleton.
Dr C. O’Connor of Enniscrone examined the remains and estimated it to have been buried for at least 100 years. An inquest was not considered necessary because no one could identify the remains. The matter was reported to the National Museum.
The skeleton was found on a hill in the dunes known locally as Cnoc na Gort or Cnoc na gCorp (The hill of Hunger or bodies) near the Valley of Diamonds. Local folklore states Cnoc na gCorp was formed from the bodies of Vikings killed there in the 9th century.
In 1964, it was thought that the skeleton was from the Famine period. It was buried in a local graveyard. The church the young men were working, named the Church of the Assumption opened the following year in 1965. While Cnoc na gCorp is now part of the Enniscrone golf course.
