'I was too shocked to cry': Mementos left on children's graves destroyed during clean-up

Selina Farrell at the Little Angels plot in Glasnevin Cemetary where her baby daughter Marguritta is buried. PICTURE: Moya Nolan

A number of memorial items left on graves in the Angels’ Plot in Glasnevin Cemetery were destroyed during a clean-up.

Families made a number of complaints to management in the cemetery after they noticed their sentimental ornaments were removed without their knowledge.

One mother, Selina Farrell, said she was “devastated to discover this week, that special gifts she had left on her baby’s grave were found “smashed and dumped”.

Ms Farrell, 38, from Finglas, was five months' pregnant with her daughter Marguerita Farrell Johnston when doctors broke the tragic news that her baby had no heartbeat.

The baby, who arrived on March 13, 2015, was laid to rest in the angels’ plot in Glasnevin Cemetery and this week marked the baby’s eighth anniversary since her passing.

However, Ms Farrell discovered gifts left on the child’s grave had been “cleared away and broken”.

The Little Angels plot in Glasnevin Cemetary where many of the graves interfered with and damaged.

She told the Irish Examiner: “I went to the grave on my daughter’s eighth year anniversary on March 13 and as I got to the plot it was destroyed.

"I saw sentimental ornaments squashed into smithereens and broken pieces of glass everywhere, parts of the earth were dug up and plants dug up and thrown around, plaques were broken too.

“About five or six plots on the same row were the same. It was like the broken pieces were thrown onto other graves and smashed.

“I am devastated, I was too shocked to cry. Later on, I put up the video of her grave online and other mothers rang me. I felt terrible that I had to inform them. I didn’t want to be a messenger of this. It is not the time or place to be doing that and I still have no answers."

Ms Farrell said she went to the offices of Glasnevin Cemetery immediately to complain about her child’s grave and was told the cemetery workers had “cleared off the babies graves”.

“I’ve been told the cemetery is having meetings with mothers, but I have had very little communication and I don’t know what is going on."

The Little Angels plot in Glasnevin Cemetary where the graves seen here nearest the camera were interfered with and damaged. Keepsakes put on the graves by many families have been either completely removed or broken and in some cases put on other graves nearby. PICTURE: Moya Nolan

A second mother, Laura McHugh, had a meeting with management at Glasnevin on Tuesday morning after her son Bernard’s baby box filled with ornaments was removed.

The 32-year-old lost her child at 19 weeks in 2014.

“I want to get the word out to other families to clear off their grave," she said. “I felt when I saw my son’s grave on Tuesday, they were after taking a big part of my baby away from me.

“I created a box for him, with little gifts and trinkets in it, that was the first and last thing I could do for my baby. I never got to hold him, kiss him, or talk to him.

“The box was beautiful, but it’s gone, and I can’t get it back. I understand clean-ups take place, but I wasn’t warned about it.

“I met with Glasnevin on Tuesday, and they said they are investigating."

Selina Farrell at the Little Angels plot in Glasnevin Cemetary where her baby daughter Marguritta is buried. PICTURE: Moya Nolan

In a statement, a spokesperson for Glasnevin Cemetery said: “As part of our programme of care for the Angels’ Plots, we carry out some maintenance work twice a year in order to keep the area in good condition — this is out of respect for those who rest there and also for families who visit the plot to remember loved ones.

“We are talking to a number of people involved, including families, who are our primary concern, to establish exactly what happened to their loved ones' graves. We are also working on ways in which families can be notified in advance of any future maintenance work.”