Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
£2M PLAN TO UNEARTH CEMETERY’S SECRETS
Historic city graveyard set to become top tourist attraction
THE story of a sunken graveyard wall built to separate Catholic and Protestant plots will be retold through a multi-million pound project, it has been revealed.
More than £2million will be invested in the redevelopment of the City Cemetery in West Belfast as a visitor attraction.
Headstones and monuments across the historic graveyard represent people across the city during the golden age of industrialisation.
Belfast City Council is planning to build a new visitor centre in the cemetery after securing £1.68million of Heritage Lottery Funding towards the £2.28million project.
Over the next three years, it will also create an education space, restore historical monuments, enhance the rich biodiversity of the site and create outreach events to involve people in the period of the project and beyond.
Chair of Belfast City Council’s Strategic Policy and Resources Committee Alderman Jim Rodgers said: “City Cemetery is a real hidden gem with a fantastic story to tell.
“It is the final resting place of many noted figures from the city’s past, including Edward Harland, ‘Tobacco King’ Thomas Gallaher and Margaret Byers who was a pioneer of women’s education and who founded Victoria College.
“The many fascinating and unique features within its walls include the only Jewish burial ground of its kind in Ireland and an underground wall which – while never used for its intended purpose – was built to separate Catholic and Protestant graves.
“There are also a total of 11 listed features including the central steps and vaults, Victorian fountain and superintendent’s house.
“This project will ensure these unique features are preserved for future generations and that the story of the cemetery is told.”
Plans also include the creation of a multi-media exhibition where visitors can learn more about the history and the people of the cemetery – which also contains a number of war dead. And those keen to explore their family tree will be able to access burial records and archives in the visitor centre.
Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Northern Ireland Paul Mullan said: “We often think of cemeteries as places for the dead but our parks and cemeteries provide vital connections to our history, our community and our natural heritage. “Thanks to National Lottery players, this grant will support vital restorations right across this extraordinary cemetery, saving monuments at risk and maximising its potential as a green space.”