Saga of Barnewall family tombstone is finally laid to rest

CITY

Sir Reginald Barnewall, a descendant of Anglo-Norman knights who guarded The Pale, has returned to Australia at the end of a comedy of errors over his family tombstone. The long and bizarre saga began in 1994 when Sir Reginald approached Ms Patricia Oliver, then chairwoman of An Taisce, seeking its support to relocate the tombstone to Barnewall-built Drimnagh Castle, in Dublin.

At the time, the tombstone was in an overgrown graveyard attached to a ruined church at Crickstown, near Ashbourne, Co Meath. Sir Reginald had been trying for years to get someone interested in preserving it. Stones were falling from the church and he feared the family tombstone, weighing three tonnes, was in danger of being destroyed. Moving it seemed the only solution.

An Taisce found the situation as Sir Reginald had described it and, while he went back to Australia, Ms Oliver set about seeking permission from Meath County Council and the Office of Public Works.

A year later, after carrying out their own inspections of the graveyard, Meath County Council and the Office of Public Works gave their consent in writing and an unveiling ceremony was arranged to mark the arrival of the stone at Drimnagh Castle.

Sir Reginald, a retired engineer, returned to Ireland and hired a contractor to move the stone. However, neither he nor the contractor told Crickstown locals what they were doing and that they had permission to do it. They did not have in their possession copies of the letters of authorisation from the OPW and Meath County Council.

Matters were further complicated by the late arrival of a lorry which was hired to transport the stone to Drimnagh.

A local woman accused them of stealing the stone and telephoned the Garda, who ordered work to stop pending the receipt of copies of the relevant documentation from An Taisce.

The Garda subsequently lost interest when they discovered nothing criminal was afoot. However, in the meantime, locals organised a petition to the OPW, which did an about-turn, rescinding its original authorisation.

By then the stone had been lifted out of the graveyard and was in a nearby field "with cattle walking all over it", Ms Oliver recalled. "Sir Reginald and his wife were in tears and returned to Australia in distress."

Later, on their instructions, the stone was moved to the barn of a friend who lived locally. Meanwhile, a major row erupted between the Barnewalls and the OPW, which by then was insisting that it would have to be put back.

Sir Reginald refused, pointing to the OPW's previous authorisation. Solicitors became involved while locals were "up in arms" and continued to believe that an attempt had been made to steal the stone.

"My task was to try to bring all the parties together and we eventually succeeded in reaching agreement in November 1995 that the ruined church at Crickstown would be repaired and the stone would be returned," Ms Oliver said.

The problem then became one of getting the job done. Throughout last year, to the frustration of the Barnewalls, there was talk of a FAS scheme but no progress was made. This logjam was only broken by setting a deadline.

Last January, as part of An Taisce's 50th anniversary celebrations, July 27th was set as the date by which the stone would be returned. Work eventually got under way in May under the direction of the OPW and the council.

This involved clearing ivy from the walls of the ruined church, repointing the stonework to stabilise it and gravelling the area where the Barnewall tombstone would be re-erected, a task which was carried out by a contractor from Cork.

Sir Reginald and Lady Barnewall travelled to Ireland for the ceremony, which was also attended by Barnewalls from Britain, the US and elsewhere, as well as locals.

It was, if anything, a case of all's well that ends well.