Probe as pensioner’s body mysteriously moved

PENSIONER Josie Graham’s dying wishes have been undone after his remains were dug up in a mysterious exhumation and reburied in another cemetery nearby.

Bachelor Josie was 95 when he passed away on February 22, 2009, in his native Patrickswell.

He requested to be buried in the hilltop cemetery at Clounanna, just outside Patrickswell and true to his wishes, he was buried there one of the oldest burial grounds in Co Limerick.

However, in recent days, shocked visitors to Clounanna cemetery discovered that the remains of the popular bachelor had been transferred to another cemetery in the village, which opened 20 years ago

An investigation is now under way, as neither the gardaí nor the county council were informed of the exhumation, which is a contravention of the law.

The original plot where he was buried in Clounanna is owned by the McDermott family, who run a shop in the village.

It is believed the early morning dig and reburial took place on the day of the election count.

News at what had happened sparked widespread anger in the community.

John McDermott said his family had no knowledge about how Mr Graham’s remains were dug up and moved.

He said: “A customer said it to him [his father, Sean], and that was the first he heard of if. He thought, if something like that was done, he should have been informed. No-one informed him of this.

“He did think it was a bit unusual that someone would do something like that without informing us, but it was the first we heard of it. He couldn’t believe it. He went to the grave, but didn’t know where he [Josie Graham] had been moved to.”

Locals say there is suspicion about who may have been behind the moving of the body.

Exhumations must take place in the presence of a member of the Garda Síochána and a local authority environmental health officer.