Kerry County Council has refused a father permission to erect a plaque to his son, who was stillborn 41 years ago.
Bertie O'Connor from Ballyduff had hoped to erect the plaque in the graveyard where his son James was buried.
James O’Connor was stillborn on July 8th 1983 at St Catherine’s Hospital in Tralee.
He is buried on the site of the former hospital, which is now the headquarters of Kerry County Council, as at the time the remains of babies couldn't be taken home by families.
His father Bertie asked Kerry County Council’s environmental department for permission to erect the plaque at the burial site on the wall of the Old Famine Burial grounds at the back of Áras an Chontae.
This would be a 440-millimeter-squared, 12-millimeter thick black granite plaque which included a picture of an angel and an Ogham inscription.
However, the council refused stating the objection isn't based on religious grounds, but the burial ground is a public space and all signage and plaques must relect that.
Bertie O’Connor says he can’t understand why he wasn’t allowed to erect the plaque:
Access to burial ground at the former St Catherine’s Hospital in Rathass is restricted, and Mr O’Connor wants to exhume his son’s remains and bury them in the family plot in Rahela Cemetery, Ballyduff.
He says he’s been trying to get a record of exactly where his son was buried in order to exhume his remains:
