THE grief suffered by parents whose babies’ graves were dug up to make room for adult burials was acknowledged during the unveiling of a memorial to all the children buried in the Infants’ Plot in Limerick’s Mount St Lawrence cemetery.
When he officially opened an extension of 675 new graves at Mount St Lawrence last week, Bishop Brendan Leahy also blessed a memorial stone commemorating the infants whose graves were disturbed and expressed regret for what had happened.
The plot where families buried babies who were born prematurely, still-born or died shortly after birth was located just inside the gates of the city cemetery.
But when Limerick couple, Phil and Paul Walsh went to visit the plot where they buried their son, William after three decades they were astounded to find the plot occupied by adult graves and tombstones.
“I asked the grave-digger what happened to the babies buried there and he told me ‘they dug them down deep’ He also said the diocese had sold the plots because they needed the money”.
When contacted by the Limerick Post, Bishop Leahy instigated an investigation that revealed there was no record of the babies buried in the plot.
The Diocese commissioned a memorial stone to commemorate the buried infants and this was blessed with many of the parents and bereaved family members in attendance.
Bishop Leahy said that “we can’t undo the past but we can learn from it. What we are doing today is important. We’re thinking of those children and acknowledging the pain of those parents. On my own behalf and on behalf of the diocese, I deeply regret that there is no exact record of the burial of these children”.
