Six unidentified remains in two graves in Wexford cemetery, says campaigner

Priscilla Clarke went missing in Wicklow in 1988.

Six unidentified remains are lying in two graves in a Wexford cemetery, along with three unclaimed remains, according to a missing persons campaigner.

Clare Clarke Keane has made a submission to the Department of Justice during the consultation process on future reform of the coroner process in Ireland. She referenced the graves in Crosstown cemetery in Wexford in her submission.

Her sister, Priscilla, went missing while horseriding with her employer, Lynda Kavanagh, in Wicklow in 1988. Ms Kavanagh’s body was recovered but Ms Clarke has never been found.

Missing woman Priscilla Clarke.

Ms Clarke Keane often wonders if her sister, who would have turned 61 in August, has been buried unknown to her family in a grave as an unidentified person.

She is concerned that unidentified remains are lying in several cemeteries across the country, without efforts being made to identify them for repatriation to their families.

In her submission to the department, referring to the two graves in Wexford, she said: “This is like a mass grave. Only one of the unidentified remains buried here appears on the Department of Justice database published last year.” 

That person was a woman whose remains were washed up in Ballinamona, near Kilmuckridge, in 1995.

Ms Clarke Keane said there is currently a failing in the system which results in families of missing people having to endure more pain than they should.

She said: “Coroners are central to helping families of missing loved ones. They must be aware that unidentified remains recovered in their jurisdiction are missing from some family, they must treat these remains as they would those whose identity is known, they should act as advocate for unidentified people, they should act on behalf of a family searching and be part of the effort to return this person to their family. All tools available should be utilised including mandatory inquests.” 

She called for the introduction of an independent national fund for burial of unidentified and unclaimed bodies.

She elaborated: “We have more non-nationals in Ireland, who may be unclaimed by families or unaware they are dead, local authorities in some cases have no fund to bury remains and they will be buried in paupers’ graves to save money.” 

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She said that she and her family believed “that a seamless system existed in Ireland whereby when human remains were found unidentified, coroners and gardaí had procedures to ensure that families were kept informed, that inquests were held to create a public record and coroners records both current and historic were retained and accurate".

“Sadly, this is not the case," she said.

She added: “Inquests must be mandatory in all cases both current and historic, this should not be left to the discretion of coroners as the present legislation provides.” 

In Limerick, the family of Denis Walsh is planning to take a case against the State after they found out in February 2021 that their son’s remains had been lying in a communal grave in Galway unknown to them. He had disappeared 25 years earlier and his remains washed up on a beach on Inis Mor a month after his disappearance. However, although his body lay in a morgue in Galway for 18 years before being buried in a communal grave, efforts by his parents Denis Senior and Mary to find their son failed.

A spokeswoman for the Wexford Coroner’s office said: “We are currently looking into these unidentified remains in Crosstown but as you can imagine these things can take time.”