In memory of the Family of Babies Children and Adults who are Buried in The Bog Meadows area of Miltown Cemetery and Throughout the Island of Ireland

Written by Aine Mac Aohda

aine-macaodha.blogspot.com

Denied

Sister Monica had a special box
sat on her wooden desk beside her cane
her roll book, rosaries and bible.
Collections for the little mites
limbo babies
pagan babies
lost souls
the unbaptised
Nothing more to be said.
At age six we prayed hard for the babies
nameless and godless and without
questioning the word of God
or Mother Monica we felt loss.
I held an image of a lost soul in my mind
carried it with me into secondary school.
In childhood overheard muttered prayers
A grandmother weeping
a trail of tears when thought un-noticed.
Visits to ancient church ruins
flowers laid by the old stones
prayers said while watching the invisible
blow leaves around the ruins.
Babies denied recognition
Buried on the outer edge of their parish churches
Babies who had no place in heaven.
Their sin, still born, unbaptised at the time of death.
Parents lost in the mire of faith, grieved alone.
Under the landscapes of boundaries
and fields many mass graves lie denied.
For them I mourn…

On the "Churching" of Women

I heard of this practice the other day so I "googled" it and saw that there is quite a bit of information on it (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churching_of_women).

Churching is a blessing by a priest that is bestowed upon women who have just given birth. It was usually done forty days after the birth, that period of time given to the mother to rest in preparation for returning to Church and participation in the sacraments.

I was surprised to find out that my own mother had been churched after the births of my five brothers and sisters and myself in the 1950's and 60's. The daughter of Irish immigrants, the churching ritual was practiced mostly in the UK and Ireland and was continued in this country for many years. However, it is no longer practiced in mainstream Catholic Churches like it once was. 

According to Church laws, any woman who died within that 40 day time period following the birth, gave birth to a stillborn baby, was unmarried, or was otherwise not churched for whatever reason was seen in the eyes of the Church as unclean and therefore could be denied burial in consecrated grounds. For that reason, many of them are buried in the Cillini.

Fiercely Protect Your National Heritage

As you may have heard, a proposal has been made by the Irish Department
of Arts, Heritage  the Gaeltacht to remove statutory protection from
archaeological and historical sites that post-date 1700.

This is a very troubling proposition. The Irish people have a right to
preserve and protect that which is important and dear to them. That includes
environmental protection and historic and cultural preservation. It is what makes
up their heritage and should not be left vulnerable or endangered.

The bodies discovered in the Cillini at Milltown alone may be the tip
of the proverbial iceberg . To suddenly leave them defenseless would be
nothing less than criminal.

Enough  injustices have already taken place.

Make sure that your voice is heard.

Don't let your heritage go unprotected.

Contact your government officials and let them know that you are against
this proposal.

Who Was Denied Burial in Consecrated Grounds and Why

Though the Catholic Church has changed it's stance on many issues, in the past the Church had complete power and the people were basically at their mercy. Catholic burials were denied to many groups of people.

Only baptized persons who have a claim to Christian burial and the rites of the Catholic church could obtain a Catholic burial. This obviously excluded unbaptized babies.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia: “Moreover no strict claim can be allowed in the case of those persons who have not lived in communion with the Church according to the maxim which comes down from the time of Pope Leo the Great (448) “quibus viventibus non communicavimus mortuis communicare non possumus” (we cannot hold communion in death with those who in life were not in communion with us). It has further been recognized as a principle that the last rites of the Church constitute a mark of respect which is not to be shown to those who in their lives have proved themselves unworthy of it.”

Others who have historically and are today excluded from Catholic burial include pagans, Jews, infidels, heretics (and their adherents), schismatics, apostates and excommunicated persons. In fact, if an excommunicated person is buried in a church or in consecrated land, the place is thereby desecrated, and, wherever possible, the remains must be exhumed and buried elsewhere.

People who are of mixed marriages cannot be buried in a Catholic Cemetery unless the marriage is blessed by a priest. Therefore the Catholic spouse would have to be buried in a non-denominational cemetery if they wished to be buried next to their non-Catholic spouse.

Further, Catholic burial is to be refused to suicides except in case that the act was committed when they were of unsound mind or unless they showed signs of repentance before death occurred.

Criminals cannot be given a Catholic burial since they have mortal sin on their souls.

Perhaps one of the most difficult to justify is the denial of Catholic burial for the mentally ill (referred to as lunatics and possibly possessed by a devil). Given the fact that as many as one in four people suffer from some kind of mental illness, this could constitute a huge number.


 

The Joyful Irish View of the Afterlife

An excerpt from a page created by M. Seaver. Last revised 3/28/00.

The world of the Irish afterlife is known by many names. The exact location of this wonderful land is not known. The one thing agreed upon by most is that it lies to the west of Ireland. Some of the names associated with it are:

• Tir na n-Og
• The Land of the Young
• Hy-Brasil
• the Isle of the Blest

Beyond all dreams my land delights,
Fairer than any eyes have seen,
All year round, the fruits hang bright,
As the flowers bloom in the meadows green.
Wild honey drips from the forest trees,
We have endless stocks of meadow and wine,
No illness comes from Across the seas,
Nor death, nor pain, nor sad decline.
No boredom comes to feast or chase,
The music plays as the champions sport,
The light and splendours all increase
Each day in the Golden Land of Youth. (qtd. in Delaney 87)

Everything in this land was beautiful, bright and colorful. Delaney notes that it is called the Land of the Young because in this paradise, the aging process is reversed, so the youngest are the wisest. Time has no meaning in this place, and day changes to night and then back to day for one person whenever they desired it to do so. Everyone's soul desired to get to this wonderful place, which was more like a dream world than a land for the dead (85-95). The land was full of color, it was a lively land, bright and cheerful. It was as large or as small of a land as they wanted.

Works Cited



Cerf, Bennet and Donald S. Klopfer. Bulfinch's Mythology. New York: Random House, 1960.
Delaney, Frank. Legends of the Celts. New York: Sterling, 1992.
Fitzgerald, Dominic. "Celtic Mythology." August 1998. Online. 21 Oct. 1999 < http://freespace.virgin.net/dominic.fitzgerald/celtic.>
Severy, Merle. "The Celts." National Geographic 151 no. 5 (May 1997): 582-633.

History and Thought of Western Man
Rich East High School * Park Forest, IL 60466

National Suicide Prevention Week - September 4-10, 2011

Join us in changing the legacy of those lost to suicide this week during National Suicide Prevention Week.

It gives us all an opportunity to say a prayer or  simply think positive thoughts about those who may have lost that battle.

Acknowledge those who were denied a burial in consecrated grounds like the many who were buried in Bog Meadows.

Suicide is preventable and we can all play a role in raising that awareness.

Irish National Register of Cillini and National Marker for these Sites

IRELAND NEEDS TO LEAD THE WAY!

Toni Maguire, the Milltown Archaeologist has just received a new survey of the Bog Meadows in Belfast. It was done with ground penetrating radar. Initially she estimated that there were 30,000 bodies buried there but the new survey has shown more mass graves.

Furthermore she believes a 3rd survey is in order on grounds where a motorway now stands. This is a huge issue as Ireland has thousands of Cillini sites all throughout the country.

We hope to achieve the right to a decent burial for stillbirths throughout the world, an Irish national register of Cillini and a national marker for these sites.