Beliefs of the past - Inhumane exclusions

It’s not always easy to understand the beliefs of the past. Sometimes what was once considered normal can seem bewildering, sometimes cruel and inhumane.

One example was the practice of burying children who died before they were baptised into the Catholic church in what was called unconsecrated ground. Imagine the cruelty this imposed on parents who were members of the Catholic church and who lost a child before baptism? Not only had they lost a beloved child but it was deemed inadmissible to the communal graveyard because a religious rite had not been performed.

Many communities are trying to acknowledge the hurts of the past by marking these graveyards appropriately. There are an estimated 400 of these burial places in Kerry alone but it is hard to imagine that the cruelty, exclusion and hurt they represent can be easily or quickly forgotten.