Annual Ecumenical Service to be held in Liss Cemetery

by Emily Sheehan

Liss Cemetery will hold its annual Ecumenical service on Sunday July 21, at 2.30pm.

The cemetery is located just outside of Ballycumber, and hosts burials from both the Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland tradition.

The Heritage Council of Ireland are currently carrying out restorative work on the railings, gates, and piers on the Church of Ireland side of the cemetery. Therefore, the cemetery may be accessed through the Catholic side only for this year's service.

All are welcome to join this celebration, and are assured of a warm welcome, a message from the Bible and some light refreshments afterwards.

The piers and railings of the church were likely put in place around 1820, when the church was first built.

Nowadays, the piers are leaning, and the wing walls of the church are misaligned.

The gates and railings, which have been removed for restoration off site, were old and rusted, dragging on the ground and unable to properly close.

The pier from the Church of Ireland side of the cemetery has been taken down, and will be rebuilt when the gates and railings are returned.

Access to to this side of the cemetery will be improved following this restorative work.

The work on the piers and wing walls will be carried out by Damien Condon, from Calx Renders Ltd. The railings will be restored by Brendan St John, from Forge & Iron Works. Both will be under the supervision of Richard McLoughlin, of Lotts Architecture & Urbanism Ltd.

Additionally, a walking tour of Liss Cemetery will take place on Sunday, August 25 at 3pm, as part of Heritage Week.

During the tour, visitors will be shown headstones of notable families from the locality and some history of those families.

The work to restore the cemetery is supported by the Heritage Council under the Community Heritage Grant Scheme 2024.