CHORD PROJECT
Mullin relatives come from Tenerife to find grave of their greatgreat-grandfather
ONCE overgrown with briars and weeds, the Chord Cemetery has been plucked from the wilderness and will undergo a further upgrade in the months to come.
The Drogheda Civic Trust - in association with the OPW - began a project in 2011 to restore the Chord but were told the first thing they had to do was to clean it - and that was some task!
With the support of Louth County Council they took out ‘ lorry loads’ of rubbish and overgrowth, thanks to the assistance of the Probation Service and TUS and supervisor Jamie Nolan.
The Red Cross, who are based at the site, also played a key role in facilitating the works.
The site has now been declared ‘clean’ and the aim is to add in gravel paths so it will be easier - and safer - for people to use.
While the works have been ongoing, access to the cemetery has been limited, mainly due to the nature of the ground and its age.
The workers uncovered a huge number of little headstones, some just sticking up above the ground, making walking hazardous, unless people stick to the paths which are now being proposed.
Others have been restored and replaced, with the assistance of Francis Gogarty.
Good news for those who want to see into the cemetery is that there’s an open day planned for July and notice will be given of it in due course.
For others hoping to gain access, it can be done on a supervised basis, but only when volunteers are available.
One group that arrived recently and arranged a visit was Eduardo Mullin and his family from Tenerife.
Their great-great-grandfather is buried there and they found his grave. It transpires the family had gone to the USA and then branched out to Uruguay and then Tenerife. John Mullin’s wife, Marcella, was a sister of Mayor John Mangan of Mangan’s Corner (pictured above).
John Mangan famously presented an eight day clock to the Corporation when he became Mayor for the second time in 1892. The clock, mounted on a carved wooden plinth was made by Albert & Co, Watchmakers, Jewellers and Opticians at 116 West Street, and it graced the Council Chamber in the old Court House, Fair Street, for many years until the Council moved into its nearby refurbished St Vincents School in 1990.
John Mangan who was a leading nationalist figure in the town during the 1880s, also held the unique distinction of being the only alderman in the history of the Borough to be elected Mayor while being held prisoner in Dundalk Jail, as a suspected Land Leaguer. On January 3 1882, he was sworn in as Mayor, in the prison.
The next project for the Civic Trust is a restoration of Bully’s Acre and that will start in the next few weeks. They will then return to the Chord for further works.