Derelict chapel at Limerick graveyard set for clean-up and upgrade
Building in Mount St Lawrence could be turned into a visitor centre
A DERELICT chapel and crypt in Mount St Lawrence graveyard is to be cleaned up and given a facelift.
And the hope is that it could become a centre for visitors to the city cemetery, which was opened in 1849 after the Famine.
At this month’s metropolitan meeting, City East Fine Gael councillor Sarah Kiely sought an update on the works, pointing out that at present, it is a “fairly mucky eyesore”.
Senior council engineer Aidan Finn said local authority staff have undertaken works to make the area safe.
“It is the council’s intension to include the crypt as part of the upgrade works for the entire chapel and seek funding for the restoration of the crypt as part of the application to the department for the full restoration of the chapel in Mount St Lawrence,” Mr Finn said.
Cllr Kiely believes more can be made of the graveyard, suggesting it could become a visitor attraction like Glasnevin in Dublin.
“This is our social history here in Limerick. It’s a place of memories and it stirs things in you. The bard Michael Hogan is buried here. We have mayors, we have the great and the good of Limerick society. You can find so many former Limerick families, no bother at all.”
As well as a visitor centre, the former chapel and crypt could also be used as a municipal facility, said the councillor.
“What I’d like to see happen here is for this to be turned into a space, a municipal space, for people to maybe have ceremonies, to have history talks, celebrations of some sort,” Cllr Kiely explained.
There are many funding streams which could be used to drive this forward, she argued.
“We could have this church used for the people of Limerick,” she concluded.