CONCERNS have been raised over ongoing maintenance work in Milltown Cemetery near an area that contains the unmarked graves of children.
The large plot at the bottom of the cemetery is the resting place of thousands of babies who were stillborn or who died before they were baptised. The site also contains the remains of numerous poor citizens of Belfast whose families weren’t able to afford a proper burial. Thousands of such burials took place in this part of the cemetery from the late 1930s up until the 1990s.
Toni Maguire worked as an archaeologist in Milltown Cemetery over ten years ago. Her work led to the discovery of thousands of burial sites and resulted in the Catholic Church reclaiming the land in 2009 after it had leased that land to the Ulster Wildlife Trust in 2000.
Toni said current drainage work at Milltown Cemetery is a cause for concern due to assurances that the land would not be touched once it had been reclaimed, with the Diocese now saying in a statement that further maintenance work is also being considered.
“I worked there as the archaeologist on site from 2008 to 2012," said Toni. "I was primarily involved in proving that there were burials in that land and getting the land recovered by the Church. The families were assured when the land was brought back that that land would never be disturbed and would be left as it is."
Toni said when conducting her work previously in the cemetery, it was discovered many of the burials there were found to be very shallow and expressed concern over heavy machinery operating on top of them.
Toni said: “The burials there are no more than 18 inches below the surface. Every grave on that ground is a mass grave. One of the last mass graves there from the 1990s has 429 babies recorded to the one grave. There has been concern about what will protect those burials from the heavy machinery we’ve seen down there digging.
CONCERNS: Toni Maguire at Milltown Cemetery with the ongoing work in the background
“Those burials are so fragile. I know the land is wet and needs drainage, but what they could do is do some shallow pipework to solve the problem. That land needs left alone. The case is these are not burials from hundreds of years ago. They began burying down there in 1937 and the last burials were in the late 1990s.”
MAINTENANCE: Ongoing drainage work at Milltown cemetery
A spokesperson for the Diocese of Down and Connor said: “An ongoing programme of work has been established within Milltown Cemetery to ensure the necessary maintenance and upkeep of the cemetery. Currently, measures are being put in place to ensure adequate drainage across the cemetery and further work is being considered.
“When any work is carried out in the proximity to graves, particular care is always taken to ensure that no damage is caused to existing graves and headstones.
“At the time of such work, the Diocese employs the services of a highly competent, professional and independent archaeological team to supervise and ensure that all this work will not disturb any graves. Such work is photographed, documented and evidenced before and after all work."
