Louth councillor calls for OPW to take over Faughart Graveyard

Cllr John Reilly has called on Louth County Council to write to the Office of Public Works (OPW) to ask them to take charge of Faughart Graveyard as a national heritage site.

Cllr Reilly told members at the Council's September meeting, that he has “made contact with the two main Christian churches, who both claim that they have no responsibility for the graveyard”. The councillor says that after carrying out considerable research, he has found that the ownership of the graveyard is in “a legal limbo”. The graveyard is believed to have been in the control of the Church of Ireland up until the 1850s but was taken over by the Catholic Church in around this period. The local councillor says that no satisfactory records can be found to back this up.

Cllr Reilly says that he is delighted to have helped promote Faughart Graveyard as a tourist attraction during his first two years on the council. With the help of Kilcurry Tidy Towns, who are the sponsors of a TUS scheme, an extensive clean-up of the graveyard has been carried out. Cllr Reilly says that the graveyard has been transformed, with new signage recently erected thanks to the help of Louth County Council and Louth Leader.

The graveyard is a rich heritage site, both as a religious site, being close to the birthplace of St Brigid, and burial ground of a former Scottish king, Edward De Bruce. Cllr Reilly says he believes that it is now time for the OPW to take over the long-term running of Faughart Graveyard and “to keep up the maintenance of such a beautiful and historic site”.