Waterford to honour Quaker men and women buried in a forgotten city graveyard.
Members of the Religious Society of Friends, also called Quakers, first came to Ireland three hundred and fifty years ago to escape religious persecution in England.
At present there are around 1,600 Quakers in Ireland. Many have attended Newtown School in Waterford, where their ancestors are buried in a cemetery next to the school grounds,
The Bewley restaurant owners, biscuit makers Jacobs and Penrose crystal are only some of the famous Quaker names.
Less than one mile away, another Quaker burial ground is in a completely different condition. A section of what is now Wyse Park in Waterford city is the final resting place of six hundred and fifty members of the Religious Society of Friends.
The Quakers gifted this site to Waterford Corporation fifty years ago, but the park has fallen into disrepair and the gravestones disappeared. All that remains is a map of where the graves are located. Local Quaker historian Joan Johnson has appealed for any information about the headstones, as they were erected in memory of people who were,
Very influential in the 18th and 19th century.
A Christian congregation with no clergy or hierarchy, Quakers meet weekly to pray and discuss social justice and reform. They believe in peace and justice for all and are known for their commitment to nonviolence and not taking sides. David Kingston explains, this helped them during the Troubles,
Enabled us to do work that we wouldn't otherwise do.
Ahead of the three hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the Society of Friends in Ireland, Waterford City Council will this weekend erect plaques to the hundreds of men and women buried here.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 13 April 2004. The reporter is Damien Tiernan.
