Old graveyard will feature in Claremorris Heritage Week events

AS part of this year’s Heritage Week, two interesting events related to the St. John’s Graveyard restoration project are scheduled for Claremorris.

This is the second year of the project, which is funded by the Heritage Council and is researching the history of the graveyard and implementing a conservation and management plan to sustainably manage its memorials, wildlife habitat and biodiversity.

On Saturday, August 12, as Heritage Week begins, the project ecologist will conduct a workshop, Biodiversity in our Town and Village Graveyards, in the local Cúram centre. Places at the workshop are limited and must be booked in advance via the Heritage Week website.

On Friday, August 18, at 7 p.m., a special event will take place at Claremorris Library presented by Claremorris Historical Society and Claremorris Tidy Towns Committee. This event, entitled ‘St. John’s Graveyard Restoration - A History in Stone’, will include a graveyard tour with some of the project participants, a poster exhibition and a number of illustrated talks. Local stonemason and craftsman Eamonn Hughes will be the guest speaker and will speak about his family’s history as stonemasons in the town as well as the stone work to be seen in the former church building and the variety of headstones in the graveyard.

Refreshments will be served. Admission is free and all are welcome.

In addition to Claremorris Tidy Towns and Claremorris Historical Society the restoration project is supported by seven other Claremorris community organisations.

Detail can be found under ‘Events’ at heritageweek.ie.