A simple service to remember the people of Donegal who were buried in the little-known graveyard at St Conal’s Hospital, Letterkenny, will take place at 3pm on Sunday 23rd April, in the graveyard to the rear of the St Conal’s Campus.
The service follows a successful community led initiative to respectfully commemorate those who were buried in the graveyard between 1868 and 1902.
The project involved a number of key local people, all brought together by local woman Betty Holmes and community groups such as the Letterkenny Men’s Shed, Letterkenny Tidy Towns Committee and was supported by the HSE and Pramerica.
Local Historian and former psychiatric nurse, Hugh Devlin was also on hand to provide vital facts and figures.
Daffodils and bluebells had been planted in the graveyard some years ago and this has now been improved upon with the addition of a small fence, outlining the grave area, a stone pathway, a stone gatepost and new gate and literally thousands of daffodils and crocus bulbs.
In addition to making the graveyard a little more presentable, the project also aimed to improve awareness of and access to information about the graveyard.
A short video will shortly be available on the HSE’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/HSEIreland
The committee wish to thank all of those involved in the project, particularly those who gave of their time, energy and enthusiasm in a voluntary capacity.
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