GLASNEVIN CEMETERY has apologised for any hurt caused to bereaved families, following the removal of items from graves in the Angels plot in recent weeks.
When newborn infants or premature babies die, parents can bury them in a family plot or in the Angels plot. Up to 30 babies are buried in communal graves at the plot, under headstones that list their names. In an effort to personalise the graves, some parents have placed miniature wooden picket fencing and various mementos such as toys, night lights and wind chimes.
A sign advises that kerbing and other items should not be placed on graves, but one parent whose child was buried three years ago said he never recalled the rule being strictly enforced at the Angels plot.
Parents visiting their babies’ graves in recent weeks found items such as kerbing, wind chimes picket fencing and toys had been removed. One father found the miniature wooden bed from his baby’s grave in a pile of rubble in a construction site at the opposite end of the cemetery.
A white pram, butterfly wind chimes, teddy bears, toy tractors and a plaque entitled Little Angel lay among the rubble as did a wooden name plaque.
One parent said the clearing went “much, much further” than the normal annual clean-up.
A spokesman for the cemetery said some graves that had subsided due to heavy rainfall had been refurbished and personal mementoes were disturbed or removed. The removal of items from other graves was part of a routine clean-up. He said these were complicated burial places as multiple families were involved and they did not have ownership rights over their child’s plot.
The cemetery managed the area to standards agreed with the Irish Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society. “The cemetery sincerely regrets any hurt or offence unintentionally caused,” he said.
Ron Smith-Murphy, chairwoman of the society, said the clean-up was more rigorous than in other years and several parents were distressed. It was understandable that parents wished to place personal mementoes on a grave or section off a part of it, but it was impossible to provide space for everyone.
“There are three rows of five little coffins on top of each other on both sides of each grave, so if one parent marks that spot they are denying four lots of parents the right to do so. It can cause huge upset.”
Proposals involving a memory garden are now being made to improve the Angels plot. Bereaved parents will be invited to give their views on their plans, she said.
