Skeletal human remains in a crypt attached to St Mary’s Cathedral in Elphin, Co Roscommon, have been smashed by vandals.
Elphin resident and local historian Sean Neary said the crypt was “desecrated” and the skeletons, which are hundreds of years old, were “trampled, broken and thrown about the floor”. He added there was also evidence of a drinking party with empty bottles, including vodka bottles, thrown on top of the skeletons.
The alarm was raised in recent weeks when a passer-by noticed that a heavy stone door at the entrance to the crypt underneath the cathedral had been removed.
Mr Neary said when he last saw inside the crypt about 20 years ago, there were four intact skeletons inside “which were perfectly aligned and facing east”. He said the date 1739 is on the door at the entrance to the crypt, and it was assumed that the four bodies had been there since the 1700s.
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St Mary’s, which has associations with both the Catholic and Church of Ireland dioceses of Elphin, was deconsecrated in 1958 after it was badly damaged in a storm, and custody of the building was transferred to Roscommon County Council in the 1980s.
A spokesman for the Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage said it “shares the general shock at the apparent disturbance of human remains”.
The department was liaising with the county council and the National Museum of Ireland to advise the local authority on the approach “it may consider taking with an Garda Siochana to pursue action against those responsible”.
Independent county councillor Valerie Byrne said it was “shocking” that anyone could behave in such a way. “These places are part of our heritage and we must cherish and respect them,” she said. “It is just vandalism”.
A spokesman for the county council said they had no comment to make on the damage done in the crypt, but said it had prepared a conservation architect’s report for the building and was now working on the preparation of a method statement and detailed specifications for conservation works to safeguard the cathedral.
Mr Neary said local volunteers had removed the empty bottles and restored the stone door at the crypt entrance, but said the bones were in situ but in disarray.