COLUMBARIUM OPENS
NEW CEMETERY EXTENSION TO ACCOMMODATE ALL BURIAL PLOTS
CREMATED remains have now a permanent place of rest in Sligo Cemetery.
A columbarium has been installed recently with 20 niches, each with capacity for two urns and individual plaques for names.
It will be consecrated later this week after which it will be made available for use.
It follows a motion by Councillor Sinead Maguire last year to have a columbarium put in place in the main cemetery, similar to the one in Glasnevin cemetery.
“I brought the motion following on from representations I had received from residents in Rosses Point and Rathcormac where burial plots are limited and suggested this as an alternative burial option and also meeting the needs of families who had made the choice to cremate their loved one,” she told The Sligo Champion.
Rosses Point cemetery is now full and can no longer accept new graves, resulting in residents having to be buried in Rathcormac cemetery.
“The council were happy to install the columbarium and test its popularity. If it proves popular they will consider in- stalling similar structures in other graveyards if there is sufficient interest,” she added.
Cremation enables a greater number of remains to be accommodated within a small space and is thus more efficient in terms of the land it requires and its ability to extend the life span of an existing established cemetery for use by future generations.
Changing attitudes to cremation are being catered for by Sligo County Council who have included a second columbarium in the proposed extension to Sligo Cemetery.
The extension will be built on 1.3 hectares of land available to the north east of the existing cemetery.
The extension will accommodate a range of burial types including traditional kerbed graves, green lawn cemetery, muslim area plots and a columbarium wall.
There will be new parking spaces provided along Cleveragh Road and Cemetery Road to improve the parking facilties in the area.
The cemetery extension will include new grave plots, paths, landscaping, seating and rubbish bins.
It will be accessed by a gated vehicle and pedestrian entrance opposite Fatima Avenue on Cemetery Road and a gated pedestrian entrance on Cleveragh Road.
A bungalow containing administration offices, a canteen and sanitary facilities for cemetery staff will be built north of the main entrance on Cemetery Road with a walled services yard to the rear.
A second walled and services yard will be built for material storage to the south-east of the cemetery.
The cemetery caters for between 50-70 new plots per year.