Moves on graveyard in Dolla

Tipperary County Council is to initiate efforts to register its ownership of a graveyard in Kilboy that has been the centre of controversy for a number of years.

Families with loved ones interred in the graveyard, which is situated within Kilboy Estate, have objected to private cameras and other methods being deployed to monitor activity in the estate, which is owned by Shane Ryan, son of Ryanair founder, Tony Ryan.

At the September meeting of the Nenagh Municipal District Authority, a motion in the name of all nine elected members calling on the council to register its ownership of the graveyard with the Land Registry was submitted.

No discussion was held in relation to the motion, but it was unanimously adopted and the District Administrator, Rosemary Joyce, informed members that the council would now move to register the graveyard in its ownership.

People with relatives interred in the burial ground have complained about being confronted by gardaí when going to and from the graveyard. They say the cameras and other security measures being deployed are an unnecessary intrusion on their rights. The Dolla Graveyard Committee has previously called on the council to register its ownership of the cemetery.

Dolla Graveyard has been in use as a place of worship and burial for nearly 1,000 years. It is the ancestral burial ground for countless generations from the locality and continues as an active graveyard to this day.