Headstones smashed in an orgy of destruction

March 1986

Heartless vandals broke up headstones and uprooted many more in an orgy of destruction in a country churchyard over the weekend.

Members of the Church of Ireland congregation in Enniskerry were confronted with the wreckers’ work when they attended Sunday services at St Patrick’s Church.

The damage came to light on Sunday morning and local gardai reckon that the vandalism was carried out by a group of people returning from late night drinking on the previous night.

After surveying the damage over the weekend, Canon A Stokes of the Powerscourt rectory said one or two of the headstones had been completely destroyed and would have to be replaced.

Many more had been pulled up and thrown about.

‘It’s an awful waste of time. I just cannot understand it. I really don’t want to say any more about it,’ he said.

There have been graves in St Patrick’s Churchyard since the 1860s and several of the headstones vandalised over the weekend dated back many years.

But in other cases there are still relatives alive and many of these were greatly upset when they saw the damage on Sunday morning.

According to local gardai, the vandalism was most probably committed by late night drinkers returning from a disco or some other function in the small hours.

‘I wouldn’t say it was a deliberate act of vandalism. There was no paint or daubing used. It seems as if they were just passing by and attacked the grave,’ said a spokesman.

He added that a beer bottle had been found which was being tested but no arrests had been made for the crime.