The story of the most recent phase of development at Ballyeglish Old Graveyard begins in 2018. However, it was in 2000 when a local woman, Mary Baker, then a councillor, lobbied Cookstown District Council to have a more modern vehicular route created that would link the B18 road with the parking area adjacent to the stream, thereby ensuring safer and more appropriate public access to the old graveyard.
Mary’s campaign was a success, and it was in that year that the newly fenced and stoned lane was officially opened. A commemorative stone to mark that occasion still stands at the entrance to the Public Right of Way.
Work was also undertaken then, on the crossing point of the watercourse, referred to by this group as Ballyeglish Stream. A sturdy metal footbridge is there today, as a replacement for the railway sleepers that were said to have been used in bygone days to facilitate burials, and the erection of monuments, at that place. There are also light, metal safety railings on the bridge, as well as a fine kissing gate which provides access to the second part of the Public Right of Way.
This welcome stage of development formed the basis for what was to come next.
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Bígí linn
The Ballyeglish Society 