Monday, February 22, 2010

Priest tells parishioners to cut back when buying grave spaces

A Donegal priest has warned parishioners that space in the two cemeteries in Letterkenny is running out and that they should only purchase graves that they "strictly require.”

Fr Eamon Kelly, who is the administrator at St Eunan's Cathedral, explained that people sometimes buy a double plot because it looks larger than a single plot.

But, he said, this practice should stop so as to conserve space in the cemeteries at Leck and Conwal.

In the newsletter at both the Cathedral parish and that of the Church of the Irish Martyrs, people were told they would have to “make the best use of the available burial ground.”

The policy of the parish is that a grave will only be allocated when it is required, in other words, when someone has actually died and that they will be allocated as a 'three-space single plot' or as a 'six-space double plot'.

The maximum space the parish will sell is a six-space double plot.

"In the interest of conserving space, families should only seek the amount of grave space that they strictly require,” the clergy said in the newsletter.

“Grave space is very limited in both graveyards," they added.

Fr Kelly said that the purchase of excess space was a "very unfair practice” which led to poor use of grave space.

“It's a cosmetic thing - the single grave looks small compared to a double grave but that's not a solid enough reason to be requesting a double plot," he said.

Fr Kelly said there was now "very little space left” in Leck cemetery and that while the parish had extended capacity at the second graveyard in Conwal in the past year, the growing population of the town and its hinterland meant space was now at a premium.

"We're always looking at options and the possibility of acquiring additional graveyard space but, ultimately, it is a decision for Donegal County Council, although the Church won't be found wanting," he said.
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