Workers of a public water project in north Galway have uncovered the skeletal remains of what are likely be victims of the Great Famine, according to the Irish Independent.

Archaeologists were called in to examine the skeletons of up to a dozen people after contractors of the Tuam Public Water project found the remains close to where an old workhouse stood, on the Athenry Road on the outskirts of Tuam town.

Although a Victorian graveyard is located across the road, the indications are that the remains are probably linked to the workhouse, which was built to accommodate the starving local population in the late 1840s. It was demolished around 1970 for a local housing estate.

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The neatly arranged skeletons were found in a contained area and have all appeared to have been buried in coffins in a north-south direction.

"Most Christian burials saw the bodies laid in an east-west direction, so we are not sure why they are lying like this," Galway County Council archaeologist Finn Delaney told the Irish Independent.

The team of archaeologists has only just started excavating the remains.