Old graveyard to get TLC

Volunteers with Cavan Tidy Towns have spearheaded a new project to renovate the historic and overgrown Annageliff Graveyard on the outskirts of the county town.

The project came about after the local Tidy Towns group was contacted by locals and public representatives earlier this year expressing concern for the graveyard, which just off the Cavan to Virginia road, outside of Cavan Town.

“We surveyed the graveyard a few months after this approach and proposed it to our committee as a new project. We liaised with Anne Marie Ward, Cavan County Heritage Officer, who was a magnificent help and this got the project up and running,” explained Paul Lynch, secretary of Cavan Tidy Towns.

“Anne Marie Morgan laid out a training schedule for our volunteers and set us a few goals to reach in the first few months,” he added.

“While all this was happening one of our volunteers discovered an article in The Anglo-Celt from 1986 when a group of students from Loreto Cottage, led by their teacher Mrs Brid Cahill, did a project on the graveyard and collected some fantastic information,” continued Paul.

One of the committee members, Marie White, made contact with Brid Cahill. “It was to our delight that Brid still had the project that the students completed, back in 1986, and made it available to us,” said Paul.

With access to the graveyard being limited due to overgrowth, the team was advised to search for an appropriate landscaping contractor to clear a path around the perimeter of the graveyard. “Local landscaper and horticulturist Ciaran Grey of Living Landscapes came in top of our list and took on the challenge of clearing out path,” Paul revealed.

They also took advice from Cavan County Council horticulturalist, Bernie McGovern, about when the work could be done and which plants needed to be pruned and which one should not be touched.

“We also took advice from local environmentalist and wildlife enthusiast, Heather Bothwell, who had previous experience in graveyard conservation,” added Paul.

To promote and advertise the project, the team set up a Facebook page ‘Annagilliffe Graveyard – A Cavan Tidy Towns Project’.

Once the page went live, interest in the project “snowballed” and families with loved ones buried in the graveyard also came forward. These include Bradys, Lees, Donohoes and Armstrongs.

“Most notably the Armstrongs who originate from Monaghan and are mostly based in Baltimore and Belfast now. They had previously invested a lot of time and effort researching their family history but could never find where a large number of the Armstrongs were buried until our Facebook page popped up on the world wide web. Representatives of the Armstrong family from Belfast will be joining us at the graveyard blessing and project launch,” said a delighted Paul.

“We are looking forward to working with locals, Cavan County Council and many other relevant groups on this project. We have received so much support and offers of help from home and abroad. The fact that the graveyard is a mixed denomination [burial ground] has brought so many people of different religions together on this project over the last few months. Maybe just maybe we can use this example of our shared past as a model for our shared future on this small island,” concluded Paul.