Cork Fianna Fail councillor Audrey Buckley has been behind a campaign to bring in sheep to save an old cemetery in Crosshaven from total overgrowth.
The sheep uncovered historic graves while eating overgrowth around headstones.
“I started the ‘Save our Steeple’ campaign initially with a core group of local volunteers to protect St. Matthew’s Church at Templebreedy graveyard,” Audrey told Agriland.
“After we received partial funding to consolidate the church which dates back to 1788, I was asked: ‘So what are your plans for the Templebreedy graveyard?’
“90% of the graveyard hadn’t been seen for possibly 60 years or more,” she said.
“I thought of goats and sheep when I was in The Gower, visiting my cousin in Wales. After getting permission from the council to put in goats first to do all the ‘heavy eating,’ we then put in the sheep,” she continued.
“We miss the goats as they were great characters but they did such a good job eating everything and uncovering history that there’s now not enough ‘food’ for them to come back.
“The sheep have been fantastic. They are now a part of Crosshaven community. We have been told by a local sheep farmer that it is like a health spa for sheep – okay, so they are a bit on the fat side,” Audrey quipped.
“The sheep work along with us; we complement each other. The lady at Ballea castle owns the sheep but we take them for four months of the year, so the arrangement works very well,” she said.
“None of this could be done without our fantastic dedicated volunteers.
“To protect the sheep we have them surrounded by 30 10ft Harris fencing, which we move every seven to ten days to greener pastures.”
Families, friends and even walkers are inveigled to assist on sheep-moving nights. Audrey said it feels great to clear graves that have been forgotten over time. In some cases, families couldn’t afford headstones and the volunteers have uncovered many marker stones.
Among the graves uncovered was that of a two-year-old girl who died on October 7, 1872. The volunteers managed to contact her grand nephew.
“He was so thankful to all involved,” Audrey said.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin, along with minister Micheal McGrath and county mayor, Gillian Coughlan, visited the volunteers at Templebreedy to see the eco-friendly work being done there.
“The heritage minister, Malcolm Noonan, is expected for a visit in the coming months. We are very grateful for his support on what we are trying to achieve,” added Audrey.
“The eco-friendly maintenance of historic graveyards is catching on around the country and other places are availing of sheep and goats. Spike Island enlisted a few goats for maintenance two years ago after seeing what fantastic work they are doing at Templebreedy.”