Killarney burial problem expected to be solved ‘in the next month’

PROGRESS has been made in acquiring badly-needed land for a burial ground in a tourist town.

A serious shortage of grave space currently exists in three public cemeteries serving Killarney, with fewer than 100 new burial spaces available.

Local authorities have been trying unsuccessfully for several years to buy additional land but a statement by Killarney Town Council manager John Breen reporting “significant progress” was welcomed at this month’s council meeting.

“We hope to have the issue resolved in the next month,” he said.

The land is believed to be in the Aghadoe area where there are existing public and privately-owned cemeteries.

Town mayor Donal Grady moved to ease fears of Killarney people, concerned they would have to bury their loved ones in cemeteries in surrounding parishes.

“I have no doubt there will be sufficient burial space to carry us on for the next number of years. People need have no more worries about where to bury their dead,” he said.

Mr Grady said officials of Kerry County Council and Killarney Town Council had recently met landowners to discuss acquisition terms and the talks had reached a critical stage.

Councillor Michael Gleeson, who raised the issue, said 81 new burial spaces were identified in the New Cemetery, Killarney, last year, but these were being used up and the situation was now extremely serious.

Bereaved families were suffering further trauma as they could not bury their dead in cemeteries where their relatives had been interred for centuries, he added.