Limerick family’s concern as gravestone is vandalised with white paint

TANKARDSTOWN cemetery, which dates back to the 1760s, is at the centre of a mystery.

Jerry Conba, who is originally from Kilmallock but now living in London, got in touch with the Limerick Leader. He says a family member living in Ireland discovered in the last couple of weeks that the Conba family headstone has been “defaced with white gloss paint”.

“The paint has been removed after considerable scrubbing. It is a concern and I believe such defacement is a criminal offence. It seems to be a deliberate act rather than some form of random graffiti,” said Mr Conba.

Tankardstown, which was a parish of its own up to the time of the Reformation in the 17th century, is located on the Bruree side of the town. The graveyard is located about a quarter of a mile from the road.

The white stripe goes down the centre of the headstone dated 1888. Mr Conba says no other graves have been vandalised in Tankardstown cemetery.

He is asking for the publc’s help to try and establish why this defacement occurred. 

“The Conba family are well known in Kilmallock, going back to the early 1800s. We used to live in the Run of Luck House in Lord Edward Street, We have no known enemies or conflict with anyone in the town that would warrant such gratuitous damage. It is wholly unlikely to be a form of random graffiti.

“It is a vertical strip and not just a random swipe, in gloss paint, and difficult to remove. Also lower down are white blobs, or drips of paint,” said Mr Conba, who returns regularly to Ireland and County Limerick to visit family and friends.

To date they haven’t reported the incident to gardai.

“We are waiting to see if anything else occurs, so far nothing,” said Mr Conba, who has a man on the ground in Kilmallock keeping an eye on the cemetery and the headstone.

Tankardstown cemetery is steeped in history as is the Conba family.

“My great grandmother was a Collopy from Bruree. Eamon de Valera’s mother was a Collopy from Bruree, so in all likelihood the Conba family is connected to Eamon De Valera. And, curiously, I and my two my brothers, Tom and Turlough went to Charleville CBS, as did Eamon de Valera in the early 1900s,” said Mr Conba.

Once upon a time there was a church in Tankardstown. It is not known when it was built but it was dedicated to St David, the Patron Saint of Wales, on March 1, 1410. After the Reformation it fell in to disuse and locals began to bury their dead there. The cemetery is immaculately maintained by volunteers.

Mr Conba asks anybody who has any information on the vandalism of his family’s headstone to email him at jerconba@gmail.com