€34,000 already spent in search for new county Limerick graveyard 

THERE are just 30 grave plots left in Reilig Ide Naofa in Abbeyfeale but the search continues for a new graveyard site in the town. So far, 16 sites have been tested for suitability at a cost of €34,000.

But now, councillors have been told, there are enough burial spaces in the town for the next five years.

In a written answer to a series of detailed questions, Cllr John Sheahan has been told that there are 30 grave plots left in Reilig Ide Naofa but 25 plots have now been identified in the old St Mary’s graveyard while there are 68 plots in the Church of Ireland graveyard.

“Based on current trends in the sale of new burial spaces in Abbeyfeale over the last four years and taking into consideration the number of burial spaces remaining, it would take approximately five years before this remaining capacity would be used up,” Gordon Daly director of services with Limerick City and County Council told Cllr Sheahan.

But he declined to answer Cllr Sheahan’s query as to how many more sites have been identified by the council and where. “As site selection is currently not finalised,” Mr Daly said, “this information cannot be made available at this time.”

Two years have now passed since local concerns were first raised that Abbeyfeale could run out of grave plots and the local community council as well as local councillors have continued to press for action on the matter. Landowners and estate agents were contacted and sites investigated and then, last year, the council  publicly advertised for expressions of interest from landowners. However, at a meeting  in January, director of services Gordon Daly said  there had been a change in direction on the matter. The  council was now actively identifying sites that it considers suitable from a number of points of view and approaching landowners, rather than the other way round, he explained.

On foot of that, he said, a number of sites had been identified as suitable in terms of accessibility with maps showing the  land to be suitable. These would now be tested, he said.  This approach, he assured councillors , would allow them to move very quickly at the end of that process.

In the meantime, Mr Daly said, the council was working on a plan to address capacity in the short term. But he stressed, the focus had not gone off finding a location for a new graveyard.

But Cllr John Sheahan is not happy with the council’s short-term plan. “The council’s answer is to bury people in graves already used in St Mary’s or the Church of Ireland,” he said.

“I am not happy with the response,” he continued, noting the high number of sites (16), already investigated, and the large amount of money already spent, €34,000. “I take it that doesn’t include the cost of man hours put in by the council,” he said.

“There is an urgency in this,” he said. “The people of Abbeyfeale need to exercise their voice if they wish to have a new graveyard within the next five years.”

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