IN TIME for the centenary of the Easter Rising of 1916, steps should now be taken to locate and highlight the graves of those Limerick men and women who died in the rebellion and are buried in Mount St Lawrence Cemetery.
Cllr Tom Shortt (Labour) has advised the Limerick City Council’ Environmental Department that in line with their plans to refurbish the cemetery and install information panels,
with guidelines to graves, etc, work should now get underway to identify and mark the graves, not only of those who were killed in the Rising, but also those who fell in the Great War of 1914 – ‘18, the centenary of which is also approaching.
Referring to the media interest this week in a premises on Dublin’s Moore Street, to the rear of the General Post Office in O’Connell Street), in which terms of the Surrender were negotiated, Cllr Short said:
“We are the custodians of the city and its heritage and with these two hugely significant historic events
approaching, preparations will be underway in the capital but also throughout the country to commemorate the events in a very special way.
“St Lawrence’s Cemetery is over 150 years old and has many noted people from all walks of life buried there, but how many people visiting the cemetery, would, I wonder, know where to find the grave of that hugely popular Limerick politician, Jim Kemmy or the Republican Plot or the Manchester Martyrs plot, the graves of the murdered Limerick mayors, Clancy and O’Callaghan or the Good Shepherd Plot, where so many of the Magdalen women were buried, and where will people in 2016 be able to find the graves of Limerick people who lost their lives in the bid for freedom, in 1916..
“We should start our investigative work now and produce a user-friendly map that clearly indicates the locations of these and other graves – we should open up the cemetery to the public and make it more user friendly and a tourist attraction. There will be massive interest in both 1916 and the 1914-’18 War – it is growing already”.
The cemetery church (now unused) could be converted into a records centre, with a caretaker, Cllr Kathleen Leddin recommended.
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