Kerry council to ban kerbing around burial plots

All new burial grounds in Kerry are to be lawn-style, with no kerbing allowed around graves.

The proposal is part of the county development plan for 2015 to 2021 due to be adopted by Kerry County Council.

In 2009 the council introduced a regulation putting a cap height of 1.5m on headstones in order to regulate the layout of burial plots.

But the council has now stated as an objective of the council to develop all new burial grounds in the open lawn style.

This means new plots would not have any kerbing around the plot, as currently exists. Such a layout would allow for easier maintenance and also make them safer.

The majority of councillors have welcomed the proposal, with Fianna Fáil’s John Brassil saying the new layout would be safer and more attractive than the existing one.

The plan will go out to public consultation before it is finally approved.

Meanwhile, people in the Ballinskelligs area of South Kerry have begun repairing family graves damaged in the recent storms. Graves close to the Atlantic shore in the Abbey Cemetery were hit by strong waves, knocking headstones and other memorials and shifting kerbing out of position.

Local Fine Gael councillor PJ Donovan said a huge amount of damage had been done all along the South Kerry coastline. “There’s a massive amount of repair work and clearing up to be done,’’ he said.