Layout information sign to be unveiled at historic Offaly graveyard

A GRAVEYARD layout information sign which was stolen from the old Killoughey graveyard and then returned anonymously some time later is to be unveiled after a prayer service on Sunday August 17 at 2pm.

The sign was stolen on the evening before it was to be officially unveiled last July and then returned a week later.

On Sunday week, there will also an unveiling of a plaque in memory of the "Killoughey martyrs" who died when the church was burned down by Cromwellian soldiers as the local parishioners attended Christmas morning Mass in 1651.

Both events, at the graveyard outside Mountbolus, are being incorporated as part of National Heritage Week 2025.

The idea by Breda and Odran Condron to erect a sign in the graveyard came after they heard that two families travelled from abroad to find their ancestral graves but were unable to do so because many of the historic headstones are very old and illegible.

READ NEXT: BREAKING: Tanaiste to open Tullamore Show as Taoiseach cancels

The new layout map to be erected will direct people to the headstones they are looking for.

"We often have visitors to the graveyard from abroad - the USA, Australia and New Zealand. Two groups from Roscommon recently visited the graveyard," outlined Odran.

This project would not have been made possible without the help of local Councillor Neil Feighery and the Tullamore Municipal Council who provided granting for the project, he added..

Cllr Feighery said the new sign will be a great addition to the site for visitors and locals alike where they can clearly see where family graves are located.

"As a Killoughey man and a local councillor I'm really pleased that we can draw a line in the sand under this issue and proceed with the unveiling during Heritage Week," he added.

READ NEXT: Fantastic four raise funds for Offaly cancer support group

Cllr Feighery said he worked with the Condron family to secure funding for the project under the community grants scheme.

Last July Cllr Feighery described the theft of the information sign as "a despicable act of evil."

Odran Condron said the theft was "devastating for those who put a year's work" into the project,

He said he was "utterly disheartened and disgusted at this low act of theft from a sacred and historic place."

Cllr Feighery said all the community in Killoughey were very proud of the historic graveyard which was steeped in history.

"On Christmas Day in 1653, when locals were celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, the church was surrounded by Cromwellian troops, who set it alight and burned everyone inside," recalled the Killoughey native.