THE first-ever crematorium in Donegal is to be publicly unveiled within days, it was confirmed this evening.
Well-known Letterkenny funeral business owner Michael Morning received planning permission from Donegal County Council last year to build the county’s first crematorium.
It has now reached an advanced stage and Lily Hill Funeral Home and Crematorium is to be formally announced next week.
A few private cremations have already been held at the state-of-the-art premises at Carnamuggagh in the Mountain Top area of Donegal’s largest town.
The purpose-built facility is designed to accommodate around 500 cremations a year, which will greatly reduce the impact on families that, until now had to leave the county for cremations.
Lily Hill Funeral Home and Crematorium is located at Carnamuggagh in the Mountain Top area of Donegal’s largest town Letterkenny.
Michael told the Donegal News today (Wednesday): “We’re almost there and we’re hoping to announce more next week. Hopefully, it will help families.
“There has been a big demand since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. We took the plunge and were helped by local funeral directors to get it right.
“Families in Letterkenny, Donegal, and the North West wanted cremations but did not want to leave the county or travel so far. We are now able to provide that service.
“It will be available for everyone and will save families a lot of running. A few funeral directors have approached me for cremations already.”
The Donegal crematorium will make it the first in the North West region, the third in Ulster, and only the eighth in the entire country.
There is already one in each of Cavan, Clare, and Cork, plus four in Dublin.
Michael added: “Cremation prices will be in line with other cremation services elsewhere. Cremations are cheaper than funerals.
“If you have to purchase a plot, open the ground, buy a headstone, pay all other funeral costs, that usually works out more expensive.”
Traditional funeral services with burial in a purchased cemetery plot are claimed to be more expensive.
The facility is close to Letterkenny University Hospital and the new community hospital.
Local undertaker Paschal Blake told the Donegal News: “For the last number of years, I was working towards the goal of a crematorium and that is now being realised in Letterkenny with the opening of this crematorium.
“It is very much needed in the county. We offer our congratulations to Michael and his family.
“Until now Donegal undertakers had to leave the county to go places like Belfast, Cavan, and Dublin, so it is great to have this service in Donegal.”