Offaly councillor 'utterly disgusted' at theft of layout sign from historic graveyard

THE unveiling of a new graveyard layout information sign, due to take place in the old Killoughey graveyard outside Mountbolus, had to be called off this Saturday afternoon due to the theft of the sign.

The sign was erected on Friday night at 8pm and was stolen at some point between then and 1pm on Saturday afternoon.

The sign was to be officially unveiled after the blessing of the graves on Saturday at 2pm.

Local councillor Neil Feighery said he was "utterly disheartened and disgusted at this low act of theft from a sacred and historic place."

He appealed to the persons or person responsible for the theft to contact him in confidence and to leave the sign at an agreed location.

The Fine Gael local representative said he would personally pay for the sign to be restored to its designated area so that the official unveiling could take place,

The idea by Breda and Odran Condron to erect a sign in the graveyard came after they heard that two families travelled from abroad to find their ancestral graves but they were unable to do so because many of the historic headstones are very old and illegible.

The new sign's purpose was to direct people to the headstones they are looking for.

Odie Condron said it would not have been made possible without the help of local councillor Neil Feighery and the Tullamore Municipal Council who provided grant aid for the project.

Cllr Feighery said all the community in Killoughey were very proud of the historic graveyard which was steeped in history.

"On Christmas Day in 1653, when locals were celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, the church was surrounded by Cromwellian troops, who set it alight and burned everyone inside," recalled the Killoughey native.

He paid tribute to Breda and Odie Condron for their work, in particular their research into the stories of the people buried there and the headstones,"

"As the local councillor I was delighted to secure funding so that this informative sign could be erected in the graveyard for the benefit of tourists and local people alike," added Cllr Feighery.

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