By Lorraine Murphy
On Sunday, July 7, with HSE permission, families gathered to erect twelve white crosses on the grounds of St Loman’s Hospital, Mullingar on the plot where their loved ones were buried. The crosses bore the names of 12 of the 1,304 men, women and children buried on the site. It was an emotional day but just the beginning, according to organiser Julie Clarke, whose great-grandmother Julia Leonard is buried at the site.
“It’s a baby step but it was our first welcome breakthrough with the HSE,” Julie told Topic. “We had the crosses but didn’t want to do it without their go ahead because it would have been a lot of hassle for elderly people with security. It was so emotional – we walked into a field in St Loman’s and walked out of a graveyard,” she said.
The gathering was kept private to allow the families space to grieve. Julie described the day as “incredibly moving”.
“We laid the crosses out and people just picked them up and carried them into the graveyard. Everyone was in tears every single person, man and woman. One man, a grandfather, broke down, saying he didn’t realise it would be so upsetting. There was no heart that wouldn’t have been touched. I think even the hardest heart that I’ve dealt with would have been moved if they were there.”
Julie has been calling for action since 2012, when she discovered the graveyard plot in St Loman’s devoid of any markings. The original crosses, etched with numbers not names, had been taken up in 2011 to allow for maintenance work and never put back down.
Last Sunday, each of the 12 crosses bore not a number but a name, a powerful statement for many reasons. Julie explained: “I wish HSE management had been there to see the importance of a name. You can have 1,300 crosses with numbers and anyone can take them up because they don’t mean anything, there’s no connection, but as soon as those crosses have a name, it’s a person. So it’s about restoring personhood, restoring their humanity. That’s the power of the name. I know from our own family when we put up the headstone it was restoring Julia. It was getting her back, her personhood, her humanity. She existed, she was a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother. It’s saying ‘This person existed and mattered.’”
The families came to St Loman’s last Sunday from all over the country with one elderly lady travelling on the boat from Manchester to honour her grandmother, Elizabeth.
“She needed help to stand but she booked the trip and was coming regardless. Her niece only got wind of her plans a few days before but was more than happy to accompany her.”
Along with her cousin Kathy Crinion, and with the support of Niall “Bressie” Breslin, the group held an open meeting back on February 18 last in The Annebrook Hotel for families and friends of loved ones who died while at the hospital to come together to erect a memory wall, where people were remembered by name.
“We went on to have two meetings in The Annebrook Hotel but getting the word out and connecting to relatives was difficult even though once they made contact they were on board. Following that, we had two meetings with the HSE where we submitted a draft plan for the restoration of the graveyard. In the plan are a number of memorial walls, because if you put up only one wall at the top of the field they can cordon off the rest of the field and sell the site, which is part of the zoned development plan that Deputy Peter Burke showed us and must be rezoned.”
Due to strict GDPR regulations, the HSE has declined for the register of people who died at the hospital to be released. This has not deterred Julie and her team, however.
“One of our family members is a great researcher and found all of the people who died in St Loman’s from 1907 to 1970 on civil records with all of their medical information. We went to the next meeting with the HSE and brought along examples they acknowledged that this changed things.”
After each meeting, the group invited representatives from the HSE to the graveyard which they accepted, taking the time to speak with relatives. This was a move which meant a lot to the group. Julie is calling for the HSE to keep the momentum moving things and work with her team to discuss the plans to erect the memorials in the names of all who are buried at St Loman’s.
“We’re hoping for a further meeting that will be productive, add value and bring us closer to our goal. This memorial is a huge part of us as a society. It speaks on so many levels – personal, family and mental health. Imagine if you went to Ballyglass cemetery and all the headstones were taken up? There would be outrage, and rightly so. When you go to St Loman’s and everything is erased, there’s silence.”
“People ask why we are doing this, saying it’s historic and it doesn’t matter but it does matter because the people buried here haven’t been identified. They haven’t been given names. We’ve made a start now, let’s now work together and get those memorials erected.”
A HSE spokesperson told Topic: “The HSE remains committed to the implementation of a restoration plan for the graveyard at St Loman’s. To this end we are working with subject experts and liaising with other key stakeholders.”
For more information, visit friendsofjulia.com, email julie@friendsofjulia.com or follow @friendsofjulialomans on Instagram
