August 2007

Missing Donegal Men Mystery

The 175 year old mystery of 57 railroad men, thought to be from Donegal, who died in mysterious circumstances on an American railway may finally be solved after the discovery of what could be a mass grave.

Fifty seven Irish men disappeared in 1832 in Pennsylvania while working on an earthworks known as Duffy's Cut. But within six weeks of beginning work on the 300 ft long, 125 ft high earthen works all 57 had disappeared. For 175 years the disappearance of the men has been shrouded in mystery, folklore and ghostly tales. The unskilled labourers arrived in the US on ships from Derry and some are believed to have been from north Inishowen. The men are said to have died after a Cholera outbreak but it is since believed that some if not all of them may have been murdered in an atmosphere of anti-Irish sentiment which had seen riots against the Irish in Philadelphia the year before.

Archaeologists using ground penetrating equipment have now discovered what they think might be a mass grave and are hopeful that excavations in the next few weeks can shed some light into who the men were and how they died. The team have discovered an area of disturbed ground 40ft by 20ft which they think may be the mass grave of the missing rail road workers. Digging has already uncovered a stone slab which matches records which say a blacksmith had buried the bodies of the men under stone slabs.

The dig is being led by Dr. William Watson who believes at least some of the men were murdered. Living in a shanty town near Duffy's Cut he believed they contracted cholera from a stream but cholera would only have killed between 40 to 60 per cent of them, raising the question about how the rest died. Witnesses say the men had tried to leave the valley to get help but were turned back by local sheriffs who were known to be part of an anti-immigrant vigilante group. Dr Watson has spent five years working on the mystery but it is only now that he has discovered the possible remains of a mass grave.

It is hoped that the team will discover bone from which DNA can be taken and police officers will then carry out a forensic investigation of any remains found.

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