A PLAN for new burial plots has died in the water due to fears that chemicals from embalmed bodies will affect the water supply.
Cllr Eddie Ryan mentioned this incident to Galbally during a wider discussion of the shortage of graves at a Cappamore-Kilmallock Municipal District meeting.
He said he was approached by Church of Ireland trustees from Tipperary asking if the city and Limerick County Council could appropriate the ruins and graveyard at Duntryleague, Galbally. The historic cemetery is associated with the Massey family.
“The administrators estimated that the land could eventually accommodate 100 burial plots. I have explored this issue with council officials who were not in favor of the proposal to acquire the plots and re-open the burial grounds as the tower on the land, and the land within the curtilage of the tower is identified on the Register of Protected Structures,” said Cllr Ryan.
He was keen for the project to go ahead as ‘we have no funeral space at Galbally of any kind’. Currently, there are only 38 plots left on site. It is not possible to buy one in advance – you have to wait until the person dies.
A report has emerged that there is a well located in Duntryleague Cemetery which could supply the Ballinamona Group’s water supply system. The well is between 250 and 300 meters from the location of the new plots.
Cllr Ryan said the council advised him that ‘if a burial were to take place in Duntryleague Cemetery, chemicals, such as those used in the embalming process, could potentially enter the drinking water supply and pose a serious health risk. of those who consume water.
“As a result there has been no progress in re-opening burial grounds for new burial plots,” said Cllr Ryan, who believes this is a health and safety case gone crazy due to distances involved. I had never heard of anything like it before,’ said Cllr Ryan, who as chairman of the Limerick Council Group’s Water Watch Committee knows more than most.
The Independent Councilor said Church of Ireland trustees wanted Duntryleague Cemetery to be taken over by council and cared for with the same respect as the local Moor Abbey.
“The board did not want Duntryleague affected. They don’t care if the tower and the crypt fall, but don’t touch it,” Cllr Ryan said.
Limerick City and County Council have been contacted for comment.
