“Clonmult Cemetery”
On last Sunday, a very special event took place in the parish; with the blessing of the new cemetery in Clonmult. I thought that I would share a few thoughts about it here in this newsletter. It has been evident for a while, to people in the northern part of this parish, that the cemetery in Clomult was full. While some burials took place there, they were almost all into existing family plots. The option of buying new graves no longer existed. Then in the spring of last year, a few people met together and expressed a wish that more ground would become available for graves. They felt that the green space to the right of Clonmult Church should be developed as a new cemetery. They brought their idea to Fr. Jack, who expressed his support for their plans. It was then that the issue began to be moved on. There were meetings held where the plans were discussed and drawings were available to be seen. Then last October, at a public meeting, the plans for the new cemetery were discussed and approved. Those plans were submitted to the County Council, and there was the usual three month wait etc. So in the spring we received notice that the plans were approved by the County Council.
Then last May the work began on the new cemetery. The work would all be done by volunteers from the parish, with the parish paying for materials etc. A lot of work had to be done including removing a laurel hedge, digging for footpaths and levelling the ground. Then there was the laying of new footpaths, and the group also replaced the old concrete footpaths at the front and side of the Church. The old stone wall which surrounded the Church grounds and which had been affected by the hedge, had also to be repaired, and a wonderful and striking cap was constructed on top. I think it needs to be repeated here that all this work was done by volunteers, by people such as farmers and workers who had their usual work to do as well. I am told that up to 40 days in total were spent working there. I often called there and was amazed by the amount of volunteers that were present and ready to help. They brought tools, diggers and machinery of all kinds. And all this was done with a certain amount of humour and plenty cups of tea! This parish owes them a great deal of gratitude.
Today we have in Clonmult a beautiful new cemetery. It has 75 graves and also includes a “Columbarium”. Now some people might not know what this is, but it’s a place where the container containing ashes of a person who has been cremated may be placed. It can take 12 of those containers. So you could say that it’s a cemetery that’s ahead of its time! The cemetery in Clonmult is now “open for business” so to speak, and since it’s a parish cemetery the bookings will always be done with the parish priest of the time. Well done to all concerned.
God Bless, Fr. Barry.