With burial spaces fast filling-up in main municipal graveyards in Bohermore and Rahoon, a new four acre, multi-faith lawn cemetery designed to accommodate almost 3,000 plots was presented to city councillors for consideration this week.
New Cemetery in Bohermore has “zero” capacity for graves, and up to seven years’ capacity for urn burials based on official modelling. Mount St Joseph in Rahoon has eight years’ capacity for lawn graves, ie, without upright headstones, and more than 15 years’ space for cremated remains.
Informal and statutory consultations are expected to be launched within the next fortnight ahead of a Part VIII planning application for the Dublin Road location. This means councillors rather than officials will decide on plans. Informed sources expect the project to cost some €4 million, although it is not clear if that figure includes possible Compulsory Purchase Orders necessary to improve site access.
After assessing ground conditions in 41 possible graveyard locations across Galway, city council acting senior engineer Jimmy Callan said the site on the Old Dublin Road, an unlicensed soccer pitch next to the Connacht Hotel known locally as “the Jesuits’”, was the only land zoned for amenity use where trial holes did not hit rock: “And you don’t want boulders in a graveyard,” he warned. The proposal is for 1,500 traditional burial plots, and 1,480 memorial plaques screened by 350 trees, alongside parking for 112 vehicles.
Provisionally designated ‘New Lawn Cemetery, Wellpark’, Mayor Peter Keane (FF ) suggested the city council’s monuments committee will name the facility after construction in response to questions from City East Councillor Terry O’Flaherty (Ind ). Despite deeming the site “not suitable”, fellow local councillor Shane Forde (FG ) suggested a memorial to women from the Magdalene Laundries might also be considered.
A number of councillors raised concerns about how funeral cortèges might interfere with traffic flow on the Dublin Road, especially as Galway’s cross-city Bus Connects plan will include bus and bicycle lanes along the southern perimeter of the proposed cemetery.
“The cross-city Bus Connects plans are currently with An Bord Plenála, and we need to know that there are plans to accommodate funerals safely with bus lanes, for example for cars turning,” asked Councillor Frank Fahy (FG ).
“Large funerals especially will affect traffic and [exacerbate] parking issues in Renmore,” warned Councillor Declan McDonnell (Ind ). “We’re going to have a huge problem on our hands.”
Councillor Aisling Burke (SF ) pointed out the proximity of four nearby primary schools, including Lakeview Special School across the road, and suggested burial times – scheduled for six days per week - might be regulated to avoid clashing with collection times.
In response to council members’ questions, city officials said their research showed the “typical” funeral did not include more than 40 cars, and that designs had been “tweaked” in consultation with colleagues from the National Transport Agency to ensure minimal disruption to the proposed bus corridor.
Separate to the plans, councillors Donal Lyons (Ind ) and John McDonagh (Lab ) raised concerns that Galwegians from the west of the city may ultimately wish to be buried on the city’s west side.
