The site contains ‘poor ground’ where over 80,000 souls lie in unmarked graves and an underground wall, built in Victorian times to separate Protestant and Catholic graves
Members of the Belfast Muslim community will be placing a monument to recognise unmarked Muslim graves in the City Cemetery.
This month Belfast City Council approved a committee decision to permit a monument and interpretative panel that would recognise unmarked Muslim graves in the Falls Road cemetery in West Belfast, which dates back to the 1860s.
The move complements the council’s City Cemetery Heritage Project, which will see the restoration of key heritage assets. The site contains many points of historical interest, including the poor ground where over 80,000 souls lie in unmarked graves and an underground wall, which was built in Victorian times to separate Protestant and Catholic graves.
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Belfast Deputy Lord Mayor Paul Doherty told the chamber during the October meeting of the full council at City Hall: “I warmly welcome progress on the monument and interpretive panel recognising the unmarked Muslim graves at Belfast City Cemetery.
“In the last number of weeks and months I have had the opportunity to meet with those involved in the project, including Dr Naomi Green and Father Martin Magill. To discuss progress on this project, I was very much drawn into the fascinating details that have been gathered by Dr Green.
“From the 1920s to the 1940s at least 11 Muslim individuals were laid to rest in Belfast City Cemetery, they were sailors, through to travelling performers, and one Queen’s University student. I strongly believe that their stories are very much part of Belfast’s shared history, but for far too long they have remained unmarked and unrecognised.
“This project ensures that these lives and their contribution to the life of this city will now be remembered, and I look forward to these stories being shared through this very important installation.”
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