Calls for support of Old Kilbride Cemetery project
THE coordinator of a clean-up project at the Old Kilbride Cemetery on the outskirts of Arklow has expressed disappointment that Wicklow County Council has refused to step in and help renovate recently vandalised gravestones.
Jennifer Kavangh who manages the TÚS project at the site said she was disappointed to learn that the council could not offer any assistance after the matter was raised at a meeting of Arklow Municipal District members.
‘I am thoroughly disappointed at what I have heard and I feel like walking away from the entire thing. I am not going to do that only because I feel obliged to the descendants of the Methodist community to fulfil what I promised to do at the graveyard.
‘Everyone I speak to is supportive of the work that we are doing and the graveyard is of huge importance in terms of heritage. We had over 100 visitors to the site in Heritage Week alone last year,’ Ms Kavangh said.
‘We are so upset by what has happened at the graveyard and it is very difficult to continue our work. We are still shocked that anyone would damage a sacred place. It is disappointing that the council has outlined that it cannot help us,’ she said.
The matter was raised at a recent council meeting by Cllr Sylvester Bourke and Cllr Tommy Annesley who called on the council to allocate resources to assist Ms Kavangh and her team.
They were informed that Wicklow Council Council does not oversee closed graveyards and could not get involved in the repair of broken headstones.
Two recent incidents of vandalism saw damage carried out to a large number of gravestones as well as an attempt to break into the Howard pyramid.