Burial Rules

ST PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL CEMETERY, ARMAGH

Rules and Regulations for Burials and Maintenance

1) Previous to each interment notice must be given either through the relatives of the deceased or through the funeral undertaker of deceased’s entitlement to Christian burial.

2) The right of burial in more than two graves shall not be sold or vested in any one person.

3) Only one person shall be registered as owner of a right of burial in a private grave – joint ownership is not permitted.

4) No plot holder shall transfer his right, nor receive payment for the right of burial which he may think proper to grant to others besides relatives or the members of his own family, without the approval of the Administrator of Armagh Parish.

5) Erection of Monuments etc

(a) Persons having the right of interment in a private grave and proposing to place any erection on the grave shall first submit for the approval of the Administrator a drawing with dimensions of the proposed erection.

(b) All such erections shall be of stone or other approved material and shall be placed on a solid foundation of the prescribed dimensions.

(c) No headstone or other erection shall be placed on or around any grave in Section F (the section opened in 1988) except with the written approval of the Administrator or his representative. In Section F the placing of surrounds or railings for the purpose of enclosing graves is prohibited.

(d) The Administrator reserves the right to remove any erection placed on a grave without approval and/or any erection allowed to fall into a state of disrepair or to become unsightly.

(e) The placing of glass or plastic covered wreaths or plastic or artificial flowers on graves is prohibited. It is permitted to place on the grave a vase for the reception of natural flowers only.

(f) Memorials shall be of natural stone, granite or marble, and the height of memorials shall be restricted as follows:­

(i) Headstone – Maximum height 3ft 9ins.

(ii) Cross or figure – Maximum height 5ft 6ins.

(g) A person placing any erection on a grave shall cause as little refuse as possible and shall remove all debris on completion of the work and shall not on any account allow same to fall or collect upon an adjoining grave or damage or disturb any other grave or any erection thereon. The mix up of cement on the paths is forbidden.

6) Every grave shall, in the first instance, be opened at least NINE FEET deep where possible and no coffin shall be laid in any grave nearer to the surface of the ground than FOUR FEET therefrom, measuring from the upper part of the coffin. No more than three full sized coffins shall be laid in any grave, unless that at the first opening thereof it shall have been made of extra depth, or the coffin shall be removed from any grave to make room for a new burial therein.

7) No interment shall be permitted in any burial ground, nor shall any dead body be admitted into any place of reception of bodies previous to interment, unless the body be enclosed in a coffin of wood, or other sufficiently strong material.

8) Save as specifically provided for by these Rules, no grave shall be opened nor shall any body, nor the remains of any body, be removed from a grave or transferred from one place of burial to another, nor exhumed, except under the circumstances and subject to the conditions specially provided by law in that behalf.

9) No person will be allowed to plant shrubs, trees, or flowers on any grave.

10) No person shall hew or dress stones in the cemetery.

11) A person erecting a monument shall remove all debris resulting from the erection and shall make good any damage done to turf, shrubbery, adjacent monuments or walks, all at his own expense and to the satisfaction of the Administrator of the Parish of Armagh. The erection of pillars, railings, fences, plinths, hoops or other structures for the purpose of enclosing graves is expressly prohibited.

12) No person shall enter or leave the cemetery except by one of the entrance gates, or walk or trespass upon any of the shrubberies or grass; or injure any tree, plant or shrub; or pluck any flower, or meddle or interfere with any monument, tomb or gravestone; and children must be accompanied by a grown-up person in charge of them. No dog shall be allowed into the cemetery, nor shall any animal be allowed to graze therein.

13) The Caretaker or other person, for the time being, in charge of the cemetery may remove from it any person who shall conduct himself or herself improperly therein, and shall prevent any person from entering the cemetery during prohibited hours.