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Firefighters Capt. Gregory Hebb, Michael Boutilier and Christopher Tarbox help other local volunteers to right overturned tombstones as part of restoration work at Holy Cross cemetery in Halifax. The cemetery is bordered by South Park, South and Queen streets. (INGRID BULMER / Halifax Herald) |
HOLY CROSS cemetery lies in the shadow of Fenwick Tower. The oldest Catholic burying ground in Halifax is littered with toppled tombs and broken gravestones.
Some of the damage is due to neglect and harsh weather. Some is vandalism.
But a group of volunteers is slowly bringing the old graveyard back to life.
Dr. Brian O’Brien, a retired opthamologist, drove past the South End graveyard just about every day for 43 years while he worked at the hospitals, but never gave it a second thought.
"We all share a bit of guilt" for the dereliction, he says on a sunny Saturday morning. He and his group meet each weekend and spend the morning repairing broken markers and righting fallen ones. They’ve fixed 63 so far but it’s often like swimming against the tide.
Several "weeks ago, we repaired three stones on the weekend," he says.
"That Wednesday night, vandals . . . destroyed seven stones."
The cemetery, under the care of the Catholic Diocese of Halifax, can’t even afford a locking gate, allowing vandals easy access.
O’Brien is sanguine about the group’s seemingly Sisyphean task. "We’re having a good time. It’s going to take us a few years."
He’s in good company. About 15 people gather each Saturday at 8:30 a.m. and work until lunch. Included are his son-in-law Don Reardon and his 13-year-old son Brian, named for his granddad.
And there’s more family among the 25,000 bodies buried in Holy Cross: Dr. O’Brien’s great-great-grandfather and great-great-great-grandfather are buried there. Like most of the graveyard’s inhabitants, they claim Irish ancestry.
"It’s really about respecting the history of the place," Reardon says, taking a break from shovelling new gravel into a hole to stabilize a tall, thin tombstone.
"And the fact that it’s in the middle of the city."
Tourists pass by it on the Harbour Hopper and it shouldn’t remain an eyesore, he says.
His son finds it a fun way to start his weekend. "It’s five hours of my Saturday — it’s not that much time," Brian says as he pushes a wheelbarrow full of gravel to his father.
The volunteers, mostly from local churches, get some help when a fire engine rolls up. The crew of five burly men hop out. They had heard about the restoration project and figured they could help.
"We thought we’d see if we could lend a hand," firefighter Darren Jones explains. "By the looks of it, we’ll be doing it for quite a while," he laughs.
"It’s a good cause, that’s for sure."
The graveyard is home to Charles Robinson, a Nova Scotian who won the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honour during the Civil War, and Sir John Sparrow David Thompson, prime minister of Canada from 1892-1894. It also is the final resting place for a host of key players in the founding of Saint Mary’s University. It also boasts the only church in Canada that was built in a day, on Aug. 31, 1843. The hilltop chapel now needs a paint job and new windows. "1,800 people, mostly Irish, met at Saint Mary’s (cathedral) and walked up Spring Garden Road carrying their tools, and they put that building together in one day," O’Brien marvels.
That just-do-it spirit is well represented in the cemetery. Saint Mary’s University closed its doors in 1880 and remained shut until 1903, when Cornelius O’Brien — also buried in Holy cross — re-established it at Quinpool and Windsor.
"He didn’t have any money to hire bricklayers, so he laid bricks himself," O’Brien says, laughing.
The group is slowly making its way through the graves, starting in the South Street-South Park Street corner.
They are looking for money to hire professionals for the heavy lifting and are always eager to receive more volunteers. A full restoration will cost about $800,000. The group will refurbish any plot if the family is willing to pay for it.
To volunteer, call Walter Nolan at 477-6132.
Jon Tattrie is a freelance writer living in Halifax.
