‘Grown men were bawling’ - First crosses erected at St Loman's
There were emotional scenes earlier this month when crosses were erected on the plot of land where 1,304 former patients are buried on the grounds of St Loman’s Hospital.
The families of 12 of those buried there erected memorials in their name during a cathartic afternoon at the site on Sunday, July 7.
They were given the green light to do so by the HSE, representing a major breakthrough for local campaigners who have long been calling for recognition of their relatives and loved ones.
Burials took place at the former psychiatric institution from 1907 to 1970 and, while crosses with numbers originally identified individual graves, the last of these were removed in the early 2010s.
Julie Clarke, whose great-grandmother Julie Leonard was buried there in 1919, has been a leading voice in calling for the graves to be recognised, and said the erection of the crosses was an emotional experience.
“The power of a name is huge, it’s absolutely extraordinary,” she told the Examiner.
“The families of those 12 people were bawling their eyes out; there were grown men in their 60s and 70s with tears flowing down their faces – and I shed a tear for them.
“It now looks like a graveyard once again, which is amazing. We walked into a field, and we walked out of a graveyard.”
Julie said those in attendance came from all over.
“We had one niece of a woman buried, and her aunt who was in her 80s, that had come from Manchester by boat to put a cross up in her memory,” she said.
“Most of the rest were from the likes of Ballymahon, Trim and places within about an hour and a half from Mullingar.
“Everyone bonded over the shared experience; there were total strangers hugging each other.”
Julie and others, with the help of mental health campaigner Niall Breslin, have been holding public meetings at the Annebrook House Hotel in recent months with the ultimate aim of constructing memorial walls at the site, inscribed with the names of all those buried.
After holding meetings with the HSE on a number of occasions to progress the idea, a bone of contention emerged in that they would not release the names, insisting it would be in breach of medical GDPR laws.
That was until campaigners made a breakthrough, “by pure luck”.
“A recent retiree who joined us and is really into family research hit on something,” said Julie.
“He rang us one day and told us that the medical GDPR argument didn’t hold up as everyone who died in St Loman’s Hospital during that period already had their information and medical details publicly available on the civil records.
“It’s already on the internet, and we have now come up with 2,500 to 3,000 names of people who died in St Loman’s, though not all were buried there.
“We brought it up at our next meeting with the HSE, and they admitted it put a big hole in their argument.”
After some “huffing and puffing,” the HSE “started to come around” and agreed to the crosses.
“I’m really delighted now that they are cooperating, and we have another meeting organised on August 27,” said Julie.
“We want the site fully restored, returned to a graveyard, and we want a memorial wall with the names inscribed of the 1,304 people buried there.
“This meeting will have to address our ambition and when we’re going to get that done.”
Julie said they are relying on the HSE to do the right thing and fund the project.
“We have no money, we’re not a registered charity,” she said.
“We would have to go fundraising, we would have to buy the land which would be another thing, so the HSE should fund this.
“We’re calling on the government and the CEO of the HSE Bernard Gloster to give this the green light, they could do it in the morning if they wish.”
For information on the campaign, how to get involved, and how to find the names of those buried at St Loman’s Hospital, you can visit friendsofjulia.com or follow @friendsofjulialomans on Instagram.