Historic cemetry clean up planned

A clean-up is on the cards for the older section of Killingley Cemetery in Ballygarvan after some tree and hedge cutting is carried out by the council.

The tree and hedge cutting will allow for a local voluntary group to do clean-up works at the historic cemetery.

Speaking to the Cork Independent, Independent Cllr Ben Dalton O’Sullivan said: “It’s hoped to get a small clean-up group going when the Covid-19 crisis is over. This cemetery contains one of the county’s oldest watchtowers, a church ruin and a number of significant graves, some of which were historic places of pilgrimage. At the moment, the older section of the cemetery isn’t as accessible which is a shame.”

At a recent Carrigaline Municipal District meeting, Cllr Dalton O’Sullivan said that the cemetery was very important to the surrounding community and it was of historical interest to the county, with many old family graves from the areas of Douglas, Ballygarvan, Carrigaline, Ballinhassig, Grange and surrounding areas.

“I would like to see the old cemetery more accessible and for the history of it to be appreciated. It will be great to get the clean-up group going and we hope to work in conjunction with Cork County Council’s heritage section to come up with an achievable maintenance plan.”

In replying to Cllr Dalton O Sullivan, the Cork County Council engineer said that the works as requested would be completed.