Setback for Patrick Sarsfield repatriation efforts after DNA test
A campaign aimed at repatriating the remains of Irish war hero Patrick Sarsfield back to Ireland has suffered a setback.
Sarsfield is best known for his defence of Limerick against the forces of William of Orange in 1690, in an event known as the Siege of Limerick.
Records indicate he was buried in an unmarked grave in the small Belgian city of Huy, alongside another unnamed French soldier, after being killed fighting for France's King Louis XIV in Landen in 1693.
Dr Loïc Guyon founded the Sarsfield Homecoming Project in 2020 with the goal of finding Sarsfield's remains and returning them to Limerick, a city in which his personality and legacy are so greatly associated with.
Last January, skeletal remains of two men were found at the site of St Martin's Church, where Sarsfield is believed to be buried, were sent for DNA testing.
However, the results were not what Dr Guyon's team had hoped for.
"The DNA shows that the two male skeletons we found are those of local men," Dr Guyon said.
"While knowing of course that at least 24 local people were buried inside St Martin's Church between 1689 and 1795, we were hoping that the two skeletons found in January could have been the remains of the two anonymous French officers buried in August 1693 since it was the first time we found the remains of men, and they were buried next to each other.
"Furthermore, one of them was particularly tall, especially for that period, which made us think that he could have been Patrick Sarsfield.
"But the DNA results are clear. None of the two skeletons was that of an Irish man, nor indeed of a French man".
It is now hoped that the search can be expanded to the back garden area of the church after Dr Guyon's team were granted permission to carry out the works from Huy City Council, however challenges remain.
"The church floor laid about 50cm below the floor of the cellar, reaching it on the garden side will first require the removal of 200 tonnes of soil, which was put there when the townhouse was built over the ancient church in the 1930s," Dr Guyon said.
"What makes things even more challenging is that the back garden is closed on one side by the only remaining wall of the church, and removing all the soil currently leaning against it risks destabilising it, especially since recent inspection have shown that parts of the wall are deteriorating.
"We hope to raise around €45,000, with a minimum of €20,000 by mid-August at the latest," he added.
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