Dead serious about living coffins By Mattie Lennon
I
promised in the last issue that I would have more information on home burials. Well... one of my researchers contacted every local authority in Ireland and it would appear that Leitrim County Council is the only one to have refused permission for a home burial. Vincent Dwyer gave a valid reason, for refusals, to the researcher, “the soils in County Leitrim are classified as ‘Gleys’ and are characteristically impermeable, with a persistent high water table. These properties are incompatible with the soil type and minimum groundwater protection requirements specifically required by best practice guidelines for burial grounds. These limiting factors are also the reason that any previous proposal for burial on private lands has been refused by Leitrim County Council.” According to experts very few other places in Ireland have a geological similarity to Leitrim. So, unless you live or die in the county with the shortest coastline
there’s a good chance you’ll get the necessary planning permission. Like the cost of living the cost of dying varies greatly from place to place. It would appear that planning fees for such a project are not standard. According to Michelle Keating of Meath County Council a planning application for home burial would, “come under Class 12 which would be €200 or €50 for each hectare of site area”. While the planning fee in Kerry would be €80. Speaking of which, when researching this piece a Munster resident who is applying to their local authority, for permission to be buried in their garden, put me in touch with a Dutch firm which has created a biodegradable “living coffin” made of a fungus instead of wood that it says can convert a decomposing human body into key nutrients for plants. Loop company says its casket is made of mycelium, the underground root structure
