Reinstated Killoughey graveyard sign to be officially unveiled during Heritage Week

A new information sign at an Offaly graveyard, which was stolen and then later returned earlier this summer, is to be officially unveiled at an event on Sunday, August 17.

The information sign outlines details of the layout of the old Killoughey graveyard, outside Mountbolus.

It's official unveiling will take place after a prayer service on August 17 at 2pm.

There will also an unveiling of a plaque in memory of the 'Killoughey martyrs' who died when the church was burned down by Cromwellian soldiers as the local parishioners attended Christmas morning mass in 1651. Both events are being incorporated as part of National Heritage Week 2025.

The idea by Breda and Odran Condron to erect a sign in the graveyard came after they heard that two families travelled from abroad to find their ancestral graves but they were unable to do so because many of the historic headstones are very old and illegible.

The new layout map to be erected will direct people to the headstones they are looking for.

Odran Condron said the project would not have been made possible without the help of local Councillor Neil Feighery and the Tullamore Municipal Council who provided granting for the project.