Memory garden for babies

A memory garden at Glasnevin Cemetery is to be created at the Old Holy Angels Plot where thousands of infants were buried up …

A memory garden at Glasnevin Cemetery is to be created at the Old Holy Angels Plot where thousands of infants were buried up to the 1970s.

Included among those buried are stillborn babies. The cemetery is one of the few that allowed stillborn babies to be buried in consecrated ground.

Yesterday the Irish Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society (ISANDS) moved to reassure parents and families of all infants buried there that the restoration will make the graves a more special place. Up to 50 babies were buried in each grave so it was difficult for parents and families who would like to place a marking on the grave.

The ISANDS rejected reports that the plot would be bulldozed and said it was totally untrue.

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Areas which had sunk would be raised to landscape the garden. Seating would be positioned around it. Parents would be able to find out in which named area their baby was buried.

"It will give everyone a chance to see their child's resting place marked with the dignity, love and care that they so rightly deserve," ISANDS said.

The Dublin Cemeteries Committee, in association with ISANDS, is holding a public meeting on August 21st in the Gresham Hotel, Dublin, at 2 p.m. to give parents information and an opportunity to discuss the proposed changes.