Burying loved ones in Limerick city double the cost in county

The single council that will manage the amalgamated Limerick City and County after next year’s local elections has unearthed one area of deep division.

The cost of delivering a loved one to their final resting place is twice as costly in the city as the county.

Graveyards in the city and county will be managed by the new single council. But digging a grave in the two city cemeteries costs €794, while the same six-feet excavation costs as little as €200 in the county.

In some rural areas, local custom and tradition ensures there is no cost with neighbours doing the needed shovel work.

Figures released at yesterday’s meeting of Limerick County Council show that a grave in one of the two city cemeteries costs €980 compared to €630 for a plot in a county cemetery.

However, the cost of opening or digging a grave showed a big difference in prices.

In the city, there is a fixed €794 cost, but in the county the price varies from cemetery to cemetery between €200-€300.

In Newcastle West, which has the biggest cemetery in the county, it costs €250 to dig a grave. But to buy and have a grave dug in Mount St Lawrence or Mount St Oliver cemeteries in the city costs a total of €1,774, compared to a total price of €880 at Calvery cemetery in Newcastle West.

Council director of services Caroline Curley said: “In the city, we have eight permanent staff in our two cemeteries and we also have the ongoing upkeep of the cemeteries to pay for.

“In the county, there are no permanent graveyard staff and in some areas there is no cost at all to open a grave as by custom neighbours would dig the grave for a bereaved. The majority of cemeteries in the county are managed in co-operation with local communities, many of whom carry out regular clean ups and general maintenance.”

One undertaker in West Limerick, who asked not to be named, said they usually have their own diggers. “It varies in most places between €200 and €300 to open a grave.”