Restoration of Mayo graveyard as a place rich in biodiversity

A highly successful information evening has taken place at Claremorris Library.

Billed as an introduction to the St. John’s Church of Ireland Graveyard Restoration Project, over 80 people attended.

The project is being undertaken by Claremorris Historical Society and Claremorris Tidy Towns Committee.

The event included a guided visit to view the restoration work currently taking place in St. John’s Church of Ireland Graveyard, as well as a number of illustrated talks by some of those involved in the project.

Refreshments were served and music for the occasion was provided by acclaimed local harper, Gráinne Hambly.

MC for the evening was local historian, Pat Keane, who warmly welcomed everyone while recounting some personal childhood memories of the church and its environs.

Mayo County Librarian, Austin Vaughan, said that he was delighted to be present for such an important event and pledged the full support of the library service to the further development of this important project.

Special guest for the evening was the Church of Ireland Canon, the Rev. Andrea Wills, who expressed warm appreciation for the wonderful work being done to restore the graveyard and for the recognition being afforded to the church’s role in the history of the town.

While other smaller churches in the diocese had managed to survive, St. John’s had not and, following its deconsecration in 1963, it had fallen into serious disrepair over subsequent years, before being given over to Mayo County Council on behalf of the local community in the early 1980s.

Canon Wills said that the manner in which the church had been restored and developed by Mayo County Council as a library was admirable.

She expressed her deep appreciation to all involved in the graveyard restoration project and promised her full support, and that of the church, for the ongoing work in the coming year.

Pauline Flynn of Claremorris Tidy Towns said that they were delighted to partner with Claremorris Historical Society in the St. John’s Church of Ireland Graveyard Restoration Project. “This project delivers on many of our key interests such as promoting and safeguarding biodiversity in our locality, improving streetscapes and public spaces while strengthening our involvement with other community groups in Claremorris. Our poster illustrates some of our recent projects,” she said.

Ecologist Dr. Karina Dingrkus gave a fascinating illustrated account of the flora and fauna of the graveyard as observed during her recent ecological survey.

Given the heightened current understanding of the importance of biodiversity, the balanced and sensitive restoration of such graveyard spaces is now of critical importance including the preservation of some ‘wild’ areas.

With careful management, she said it was now possible to look forward to a restored St. John’s graveyard as a place rich in biodiversity.

Colmán Ó Raghallaigh, chairman of Claremorris Historical Society, gave a brief history of the church from the time of its construction in 1828 to the present day.

He noted that shortly after its construction the spire was struck by lightning while the Rev. Lynch Blosse was reading the Liturgy.

The roof fell in upon the congregation and two women unfortunately lost their lives.

Eleven people were seriously injured and extensive damage was caused to the church but it was quickly rebuilt.

Amazingly, in 1947 the spire was again struck by lightning due to a faulty lightning conductor but on that occasion damage was minimal.

Colmán described the gradual decline of the church in the middle of the 20th Century concluding with the last burials in the graveyard of the late Elizabeth Enright (1969) and her husband Jimmy in 1997.

He thanked the members of the Historical Society, Claremorris Tidy Towns committee and Kevin Barton, project manager, for their hard work and dedication to the project.

Mr. Barton outlined the various kinds of work that have been undertaken to date in the graveyard in the context of a sustainable conservation and management plan.

He described the challenges posed by years of uncontrolled growth in such sensitive areas and how clearance work has progressed to date, including the removal of large quantities of rubbish and the planned removal of many of the trees which have overtaken areas of the graveyard.

The systematic mapping and recording of the graves as well as some necessary restoration work, where appropriate, will also form part of the plan.

In visiting the Church of Ireland archives in Dublin he had found the names of many other people potentially also buried there.

The location of such missing burials will be challenging and will require further careful surveying in the next phase of the project.

He thanked the Heritage Council for its financial support for the project and noted that it is the first such grant for a heritage project in Claremorris.

To mark the occasion a special full-colour commemorative leaflet was provided and there was also an exhibition of posters representing various aspects of the work and the various groups involved.