Limerick family's distress following theft of lights from grave
A LOCAL family was left heartbroken and distressed after a loved-one's grave was vandalised in a Limerick cemetery.
It started out like a typical Sunday for Eileen O’Reilly - nothing seemed out of the ordinary until she took her weekly trip to Mount St Oliver Cemetery, just off Kilmallock Road in Limerick city with her mother.
Every Sunday, Eileen visits the cemetery to pay respects to her father, Michael Reilly, who passed away over 14 years ago.
“When we went into the graveyard, my dad’s marble solar panel lights, which are attached to the front of his headstone, had been removed with force,” Eileen said.
Eileen is adamant that this is the first incident of vandalism or theft she has witnessed in the graveyard for the last 14 years.
“I was absolutely gutted when I saw it. Myself and my mam were just at a loss for words to think that someone had been kneeling on your loved one's grave and doing such a thing.
“To me, it’s a horrible crime. The two of us cried, thinking that someone could have done that,” Eileen said.
Eileen believes that security systems need to be put in place in the cemetery to avoid future incidents
“I do understand some people would see it as an invasion of privacy by installing CCTV cameras.
“But you also have to remember that people’s properties are there as well.
“I would imagine people have had items taken in the past and would like to see some form of surveillance put in there,” Eileen said.