Colour-coded sign unveiled at historic East Cork graveyard

Almost 200 people attended a recent sign unveiling event in Cork, aimed at honouring the history of those buried at the Templecurraheen graveyard.

The historic cemetery, located in Carrigtwohill, dates back to the 12th century and is home to a range of marked and unmarked graves, including some from famine times.

The unveiling event, attended by hundreds of members of the public, local representatives and staff at the graveyard, was the culmination of up to five years of on-the-ground research.

The research was conducted by the graveyard caretaker, Michael Finn, alongside his wife, Cora, and their two daughters Audrey and Marie, who spent countless hours digging and uncovering old headstones to collate data for the new sign.

The one-of-a-kind sign, which has been colour-coded for each section and headstone, sits proud at the entrance to the graveyard, in what Mr Finn hopes will be “for the next 100 years”.

Fabulous success 

Speaking to The Echo, Mr Finn said the unveiling event was “a fabulous success”, with many family members and other descendants of those buried at the graveyard in attendance.

“Every stone that is marked in the graveyard is now on that plaque, it is the only [graveyard] sign in Ireland that is colour-coded,” said Mr Finn.

“There are a lot of people buried there, there’s a big tomb for the Coppinger’s, one of which was a bishop, there’s another bishop buried in another tomb, and there is a priest buried there who was the highest Abbott in Castlelyons in the 13th century.

“There is also a big famine grave, it’s about six feet high and five feet wide, and we hope to do something about marking it in the next 12 months.

“I am privileged to work there, there’s a lot of history in it and I get emotional sometimes when I talk to people there,” he added. 

“We hope this sign will be there for the next 100 years, and that people will be able to come and find the graves of their loved ones and know exactly where they are. People know they have relations buried there, but they didn’t know which grave they were in.”