Portlaoise family thanked for 60 years of cemetery service
The records of the rapidly growing Portlaoise cemetery have been in the safe hands of one family for over 60 years, now moving on.
The Ireland family were the go-to people for anyone trying to locate a grave of a loved on in the cemetery, and have been thanked at a meeting of Portlaoise Muncipal District for their loyalty over the decades.
A new person is taking up the reins as the registrar for St Peter & Paul's Cemetery, noted Cllr Willie Aird at their June meeting.
He said the occasion could not go without a sincere thank you to the Ireland family.
"They are there since the 1960s. Johnny Ireland took it over. Then his daughter Nancy Farrell, then her brother John Ireland, then his wife, and his daughter Georgina.
"It was a huge family tradition. I wouldn't like to let it go without a letter to the Ireland family thanking them for their contribution. It is a bit of history. Anybody who wanted information was sent to John Ireland, they helped so many people," Cllr Aird said.