Poignant new memorial to Laois babies to open in Abbeyleix

A new sculpture designed to replicate a whitethorn in memory of children who died as babies is central to phase two of the Abbeyleix Tonduff Cillín commemorative garden.

The organising committee has announced that on Wednesday, June 25, the garden in front of Heritage House will be officially opened.

The ribbon will be cut after a Mass to be celebrated in front of the Abbeyleix Heritage House beginning at 7pm.

The Tonduff Cillín committee, along with a group of mothers from the community known as Mothers of Angels, say the garden will be officially open to the public as soon as the Mass has concluded.

“Mothers, and parents of babies who died before, during, or after birth will now have somewhere to go to reflect, and remember their own loss and maybe spare a thought for the mothers, and parents who had to bury their unbaptized babies in a Cillín such as the one located at Tonduff during the darker days of of our past Irish history. People who use this site for what it is intended will find that they are not alone, others too are also feeling the pain of losing someone close to them,” say the committee.

Artist Jen Donnery has designed a sculpture that will be a centrepiece. It is a steel structure constructed by Tom Delahunty, a steel artist who has shaped approximately 1,000 steel rods that are connected to a flat base. Artists Jen Donnery and Edel O’ Keeffe have been applying ceramic white flowers to the heads of each one.

“Looking at the structure from a distance, it will resemble a whitethorn tree that will move, sway and change its shape as the wind blows. Whitethorn trees are synonymous and deeply ingrained in Irish culture and mythology, stories have been told for centuries associating babies, fairies, cillíni, ring-forts, etc. with this tree,” say the committee.

The organisers say the whitethorn trees, or the May bush, is said to bring a message of hope and physical and emotional healing.

“When we open our hearts and minds to what is possible, we soon discover that we are not alone on our journey,” say the committee.

Denise Dunne is a renowned poet who has researched the subject of the unbaptized baby burial sites around the country known as Cillíni. She has written a short poem specially for the babies who were buried at the Abbeyleix Tonduff Cillín, including many other similar ones scattered around our country.

Denise will recite her poem at the evening Mass.

Information on this Abbeyleix Tonduff Cillín project was documented and recorded from the beginning. The information will be made available at the official opening by scanning the QR code that you will find on the lower left-hand side of the memorial stone.

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The organisers credit many people who helped with this project. You will find them via the QR code.

The Tonduff Cillín committee previously completed work at the gravesite under a whitethorn tree in Ballytarsna.

It was marked only for many years with a small cross. However, in 2024, a new stone plaque was installed to officially commemorate that unbaptised and stillborn children and infants were laid to rest in the unmarked plot.