Council makes urgent appeal for burial land

AN URGENT appeal has been made for suitable burial land in a West Cork village, which has no new interment plots available.

Two residents of Glengarriff had to be recently laid to rest, about 10 miles away, in the village of Kealkil. Although the villages are neighbours, they are in separate dioceses.

Fears are also mounting about the burial capacity remaining in Kealkil, near Bantry.

The issue was raised at a meeting of Cork County Council’s western division by Cllr Noel Harrington (Fine Gael) who said that while he was concerned about the situation in Glengarriff and Kealkil, he also wanted an audit carried out on all graveyards in West Cork to ensure steps were taken to ensure space didn’t become an issue again.

“We need to ascertain if this problem could arise elsewhere,” he said.

He pointed out that the last available plot in Glengarriff was used four weeks ago and that no new spaces could be purchased.

Mr Harrington added that information on the lack of spaces hadn’t been flagged properly to local politicians and local people. “I want to know if there is any way we can prolong the use of the site in Glengarriff in the short-term but, in the medium to long term, we’ll have to look at acquiring another site,” he said.

Cllr Donal Casey (Fianna Fáil) pointed out that space was becoming very limited in Kealkil, so much so that the issue had recently been discussed with the village’s community council.

The county council’s divisional senior executive officer Jerome O’Sullivan said it appeared the situation in Glengarriff had slipped through the net.

Mr O’Sullivan pointed out that, in the past, there had been a problem acquiring suitable land. He appealed for local landowners to approach the council if they were willing to sell.

In the meantime, he said land on the western side of the existing graveyard was being examined for potential use.

He said Kealkil situation can be solved because there is sufficient land available for use as an extension.