CHARGES OF DESECRATION.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2152, 20 January 1891, Page 3

CHARGES OF DESECRATION.

The gravediggers on strike at Q-lassnevin Cemetery, Dublin, state that they have struck as a protest against the horrible desecration of graves which takes place. They charge that graves are opened, old remains cleared out, and new bodies interred, and relate some shocking occurrences. Coffins have been smashed up with their remains to make room for others coming, and in one grave, where the ground was found to shallow, the men were obliged to drag the body out of the top. coffin. This they did by driving two picks into the breast of the corpse, and dragging it on to the bank. The lid of the coffin underneath the one broken up was then forced open and the remains tumbled in, the men having to trample on the remains to press them into a coffin which already contained a corpse. Another case is told where a gentleman's body had been interred in the wrong grave, the remains and the rest of the coffin still i eating in a stranger's grave. The diggers say they are constantly throwing up flesh and hones, and breaking up sound coffins to make room for interments, and they refuse to be party to such a state of things any longer. It is farther alleged that O’Connell, who established the cemetery, provided that any profits should be distributed amongst Catholic institutions, but on the contrary they are invested in stocks and bonds. Every time a member of the Cemetery Committee attends the committee he receives half a guinea, and in some weeks there are four or five committee meetings.