Irish Church Act 1869

26 Enactments with respect to burial grounds.

The following enactments shall he made with respect to burial grounds vested in the Commissioners :

(1) Where any church vested in the representative body of the said Church has a burial ground annexed or adjacent thereto, but not separated therefrom by any carriage highway, or that has been granted by a private donor to, or exclusively used by, the parishioners attending the said church, such burial ground shall be included with the church in the order made by the Commissioners, subject to any life estate or interest subsisting therein, and pass to the said representative body accordingly, but without prejudice to such rights of or in respect of burial as may be subsisting therein, or may be thereafter declared to subsist therein by Act of Parliament; or the Commissioners shall, at the option of the said representative body, vest such burial ground in the guardians of the poor law union within which the same may be situate, subject to a right of way in the said representative body, and the clergy and congregation attending the said church, and such other persons as may resort thereto for the purpose of divine worship, or for the purpose of repairing the said church, or for any other lawful purpose; and such guardians shall not allow any funeral to take place during the usual time of the ordinary services in the said church, and shall make such other regulations as may be found necessary from time to time to prevent any interference by persons attending funerals with the clergy or congregation attending the said church, and shall keep the wall or other fence, and the gates or doors of, and any road or path through, such burial ground to the church situate therein in good and sufficient repair, and shall, as far as may be consistently with the provisions herein-before contained, hold such burial ground for the same purposes, and subject to the same rules and regulations, as if such burial ground were a burial ground purchased or taken by such guardians, being a burial board under the provisions of " The Burial Act (Ireland), 1856," and the statutory amendments thereof, for the time being, but without prejudice to such rights of burial as may be subsisting therein at the date of such order, or may thereafter be declared to subsist therein by Act of Parliament:

(2) Where any church conveyed to the secretary to the Commissioners of Public Works for Ireland as aforesaid has a burial ground annexed or adjacent thereto, and also in every case other than those herein-before provided for in which a burial ground is vested in the Commissioners under this Act, unless such burial ground is in any private park, demesne, or ornamental grounds, the Commissioners shall vest such burial ground in the guardians of the poor of the poor law union within which the same may be situate, to be held by such guardians for the same purposes, and subject to the same rules and regulations, as if such burial ground were a burial ground purchased or taken by such guardians, being a burial board under the provisions of the Burial Act (Ireland), 1856, and the statutory amendments thereof, for the time being, but without prejudice to such rights of burial as may be subsisting therein at the date of such order, or may thereafter be declared to subsist therein by Act of Parliament; and the Commissioners may, in the case of burial grounds situate in private parks, demesnes, or ornamental grounds, vest the same in such person and in such manner as the Lord Lieutenant in Council may direct in each particular instance.