Originally Posted by
PhilipG
There is some truth about the mass grave in Old Swan.
I first read about it years ago (well before Tom Slemen's books).
Can't remember the details, but they were thought to be the casualties of some mass sickness in the city centre, and they were all buried together outside the Town.
It sounds like more details have been added to the story to make it more "interesting".
Hi all
There appears to be a strong school of thought that the bodies may have been those of Irish famine victims. I remember Waterways was asking recently where Irish famine victims were buried. The following is from
Manchester Irish.com in April of this year:
FAMINE IRISH: MASS MURDER IN LIVERPOOL
A fascinating piece by Peter Berresford Ellis recently appeared in the Irish Post. In 1973 a mass grave was found in Old Swan in Liverpool. In total the remains of 3,561 bodies were found. Journalists were kept away from the site and the Home Office ordered the immediate cremation of the bodies.
Merseyside criminologist Keith Andrews has investigated the case and believes this is a case of mass murder,
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"...'Containment Squads' moved in on the diseased and starving immigrants, removed their children, then herded the Irish men and women to a containment camp in a field on the outskirts of Liverpool. They were then systematically shot and buried in unmarked coffins".
Berresford Ellis states:
"If Andrews can prove his contention, we are talking about one of the greatest murders of Irish men and women since Cromwellian times".
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