BURIAL HEARTBREAK FOR RATHNEW FAMILY
MOURNERS WAIT FOR AN HOUR AS GRAVE NOT DUG
A GRIEVING daughter was left distraught after she and other mourners were left standing in the rain for over an hour last Friday because a grave for her deceased father hadn’t been dug.
A still-distressed Wendy Cody said yesterday (Tuesday) that she was ‘upset and disgusted’ by the incident.
‘I wanted my father to have a dignified send-off instead of an hour-long delay with the digging of the grave,’ she said.
Sean Snell’s funeral took place on Friday in Glenealy Church and, after the Mass, the procession stopped outside Wendy’s grandmother’s house beside Rathnew Church to pay their respects. However, as they neared Rathnew cemetery for Sean’s burial, they were informed that the grave was yet to be dug.
‘We got a call to say there was a hold-up and that the grave still hadn’t been dug up yet,’ said Wendy. ‘We had to stand outside Rathnew Church for over an hour. At one stage it started to rain. We couldn’t find out any reason why the grave hadn’t been dug yet. My dad died on Monday and this was Friday, so it wasn’t like they didn’t have plenty of time.
‘The Rathnew soccer club were giving my dad a guard of honour but some of them had to go elsewhere after waiting for over an hour. Lots of old colleagues and friends of my Dad were there to pay their final respects as well but they couldn’t all stay either.
‘Some of them are quite elderly and expecting them to stand around waiting around for over an hour is asking too much,’ said Wendy.
‘It was completely unsatisfactory. We were already in mourning over my dad’s passing without having to deal with this on top of it. A lot of people couldn’t stay for the burial, which was upsetting.’
Rathnew Cemetery is managed by Wicklow County Council. Another burial had taken place earlier that morning and both grave plots were located beside one another. It is believed there were fears that Mr Snell’s grave could have collapsed because of its proximity to the other freshly dug grave, hence the delay in digging it.
‘If there was a problem we should have been notified a lot earlier, not just when we are about to arrive at the cemetery.
‘ They just left us standing on the side of the road,’ said Wendy.
Now Wendy and her family are refusing to pay Wicklow County Council the €470 to dig the grave and €800 for the plot.
‘Why would we pay for the digging of the grave when it wasn’t even done in time for dad’s burial? Funeral director Niall McCrea was brilliant and we can’t thank him enough, but Wicklow County Council still haven’t apologised or explained what the problem was’ said Wendy.