Dublin City Council said it will erect a lockable gate at a Dublin cemetery where more than 20 headstones have been vandalised.
Gardaí are investigating incidents at a Dublin cemetery last weekend, which left some headstones split in two.
The damage took place between Friday August 24th and Monday August 27th at Bluebell Cemetery in Dublin 12.
According to Dublin City Council, between Friday night and early Saturday morning, 13 gravestones were damaged and many other graves were interfered with at the cemetery. Ten more gravestones were damaged on Monday night.
Visitors of all ages have been filing in since the news broke, checking to see if their relatives’ resting places remained intact. Some had family members buried at Bluebell across multiple generations.
Some headstones had been sliced in two, while others were broken up into chunks of stone. Wooden crosses marking burial sites had been uprooted and fragments of flower pots and figurines were found beside grave sites.
Of the gravestones that have been damaged, Dublin City Council said, “some no longer have family at a known address, however, where it is possible, families are being notified”.
Dublin City Council is making arrangements to have a cemetery gate installed which can be locked in the evening. “In our experience, this is no guarantee of keeping out youths who are intent on causing damage as they can access through private property which adjoins the cemetery,” it said.
It is also assessing the extent of the damage to the graves and likely cost of repair in order to, “restore the cemetery to a place of peace and contemplation for the local community.”
In conjunction with the gardaí and local residents, the Council says it is continuing to monitor the ongoing situation and temporary arrangements are in place to prevent further vandalism.
At present, gardaí said they are investigating reports of criminal damage and no arrests have been made to date. The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to contact Kilmainham Garda Station at 01-6669700.