Grave concerns: Unauthorised memorials on the rise in rural cemeteries

One night two weeks ago when the gates of Creagh cemetery in Ballinalsoe, Co Galway, were locked, a crane was said to have been used to lower building materials into the graveyard. By morning, a very large headstone had been erected over the resting place of a young man who died last year.

That same week, a crane was used in a cemetery an hour’s drive north in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, during the construction of an elaborate monument at a grave there. The structure featured several life-sized religious statues and a stone bench, and was described by one local as having “crossed a line”.

To some these structures are “monstrosities” which dwarf more traditional headstones, causing upset to other visitors to the cemeteries. To others they are a demonstration of love and respect by a grieving family for a loved one who has died.

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Almost a year ago, Ballinasloe native Michael McCullagh was outraged when a “monumental monument” – as he described it in a complaint to Galway County Council – was constructed on a grave in Creagh, featuring a fake jukebox and a number of statues of saints. At the time the council confirmed the headstone was “unauthorised”.

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“I went out to see it. It was grotesque to say the least. People are estimating that it could have cost from €90,000 to €100,000,″ said the 84 year old. He took particular exception to Galway flags flying from the monument at one point.

In a series of complaints to the council, the Ballinasloe-based estate agent said the cemetery was “a respectful place” and “not an exhibition centre” and asked whether in a “race to vulgarity” more such structures would be erected.

Mr McCullagh said: “I warned Galway County Council that the next one would be bigger. The first one set a precedent. There is a sort of competition going on now.”

Local concern was not anti-Traveller bias – the graves were erected by Traveller families – but some people with family members buried close by were upset because their graves had been overshadowed, he said. “I met one person there recently who was in tears at a graveside,” he said.

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Galway County Council confirmed that “a number of complaints” had been received about the graves.

Martin Collins, co-director of Pavee Point, the representative organisation for the Traveller community, attributed the controversy to “a clash of cultural values”.

“Many, many Travellers – not all Travellers, but the majority – demonstrate their love and their grief and their loss by erecting large headstones. That has to be respected,” he said. “Once it is not an infringement on anybody’s rights, it should not be an issue.”

But another Ballinasloe native who asked not be named said: “We are not anti-Traveller but there is one law for them and another for us. If I built a house or an extension without planning permission, I would be made take it down.”

They claimed that council was “afraid” to act out of political correctness and fear of being “seen as going against a minority”.

People in Ballyhaunis are asking too if permission was sought for another recently erected large monument that dwarfs other headstones in their local cemetery.

“It caused a stir locally,” said one resident. “A crane was involved when it was being constructed. People felt a line was crossed as regards the magnitude, but they are reluctant to speak out for fear of being seen as anti-Traveller. Mayo County Council should say if there are regulations.”

The council said it only recently became aware of the “structure” and was “looking into it”.

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Co Sligo-based undertaker David McGowan said it was up to local authorities to enforce rules around headstone dimensions but he believed most people did not know permission was required to erect a headstone.

A lack of dialogue and ignorance about the rules were often the root cause of friction caused by the construction of these monuments. “There are rules but nobody is adhering to them,” he said.

The funeral director said people grieved in different ways, depending on their culture and traditions.

“Everybody grieves differently and one of the ways the Traveller community deals with grief is when it comes to the final resting place,” he said.

“They believe that place is sacred. It is important to them that they have made a home for the person they have lost. Their final resting place, in their heads, is a home. Is it a vulgar display of wealth? I don’t think so. I think it is more to do with their culture.”

Collins said that in his 40 years of advocacy for the Traveller community complaints about large monuments have come up several times.

“The point I would have made 10 years ago, 20 years ago and 30 years ago was about respect for cultural diversity. Different ethnic groups have different cultures and values,” he said.

He criticised demand for “uniformity and conformity, and getting us all to look the same, think the same. That is not the reality.”

Galway County Council confirmed that permission had not been sought for the Ballinasloe headstone and said the town’s municipal council “intends to pursue enforcement in these cases where possible”.

The local authority said new burial grounds bylaws had been prepared and reviewed by its law department and that members of the public would have the opportunity to engage with the consultation process.

Collins encouraged Traveller organisations in Galway to engage and “to make sure the Travellers’ perspective is reflected in the bylaws”.

Normally when local authorities introduce bylaws about headstones, there was “a cultural bias taking place” as those rules are developed and implemented based around the values of settled people, he said

“They get to develop these bylaws based on their world view, their values and their belief system. Anything different is seen as a problem. There has to be some compromise and there has to be respect for cultural diversity,” he said.

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McGowan, the undertaker, said it was important for “healthy grief” to allow people express grief according to the traditions of their community, but they should be mindful of families with graves “each side of them” when cranes and heavy machinery were required to construct large-scale monuments.

“I do have a problem if they want to erect Calvary and they go in and disturb other neighbouring graves or damage other graves,” he said. “Everybody’s grave is important to them. But if one community decides to put up a huge headstone, they cannot go roughshod over everybody around them.”

Collins said it was ironic that throughout Ireland’s history going back thousands of years there were examples of stunning burial sites such as Newgrange. “So at one stage it was also an Irish settled thing, not just Travellers,” he said. “If you go to Glasnevin there are monuments there as big as houses.”

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