Members of the public are taking ‘their life into their hands’ when accessing a cemetery in South-East Clare.
“Mayhem” occurs at funerals at Kileen Cemetery, councillors in the Shannon Municipal District stated when discussing the need for a low cost safety improvement scheme on the Limerick Rd in Sixmilebridge. Officials in Clare County said the location would be considered for inclusion next year.
Kileen Cemetery although on the Limerick Rd in Sixmilebridge falls into the parish of Cratloe and thus the Diocese of Limerick. The graveyard is also known as Killavoher. There are some flagstones dating to the 18th and early 19th Centuries, but the majority of burials are from the 20th Century onwards. It has been suggested that a pre-Norman church may have stood on the site and it continued to be used for burial.
Cllr John Crowe (FG) who made the proposal detailed that visibility from the Cratloe side “is very bad”. He remarked, “You’re taking your life into your hands trying to come out of that graveyard because the visibility from the Cratloe side is so dangerous”. He said the graveyard was unique in that the old part was built in the shape of the coffin.
Part of the problem was due to the “very small car park,” the Sixmilebridge representative believed. “The graveyard is full, with so many buried there you have a lot of people visiting the graves, the road is so busy that it is very hard to park”.
His views on limited parking and the need for action were supported by Cllr PJ Ryan (IND). “It is a very old graveyard, there is a limited amount of parking there, the graves have increased, there are more and more people visiting. Maybe the local authrority would look at idea of acquiring more ground to try help the situation, it is something that is going to have to be looked at, the traffic coming from Cratloe direction seems to come on fairly lively”.
That there has been no serious accident has “amazed, Cllr Gerry Flynn (IND) remarked. “A lot of my family members are interred there,” he outlined. “Some additional parking might help. It is mayhem at funerals there”.
Additional parking would be welcome “but you still have to get onto the road,” Cllr Pat O’Gorman (FF) replied. He felt traffic calming measures were needed coming around the bend “because you’re bouncing a stone wall”.
