Ancient human remains found in County Armagh

The humans remains were discovered near Church of St Mary to the south of Lough Neagh

Ancient human remains have been uncovered during archaeological testing in County Armagh.

At least 20 graves were discovered close to the site of a former medieval church in Maghery Road, the Department for Communities (DfC) said.

BBC News NI has learned the work is being carried out in relation to a proposed cemetery extension on land between two churches.

DfC said the remains will be "treated sensitively and preserved".

BBC News NI understands the discovery was made on land between Church of St Mary and Church of Our Lady Queen of Peace to the south of Lough Neagh.

"Once completed, the results of archaeological testing will be used to inform our advice to the planning authority regarding the relevant planning application," a DfC spokesperson said.

Further excavations are due to take place in coming weeks.

Glen Gibney, a Dublin-based osteoarcheologist, told BBC News NI the length of time it takes to determine the history of human remains would depend on the size of the collection discovered.

"They would need to be fully excavated and then cleaned prior to analysis," he told the Evening Extra programme.

"Excavation itself can be quite time-consuming, depending on the ground conditions and the preservation of the remains," he continued.

"If the remains are in good condition, you can do some radiocarbon dating on them to identify the period in which they were buried."

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said they were made aware of the discovery of ancient human remains in the Maghery Road area of Armagh on 24 July.

However, they said they did not consider it to be a police matter.