GARDAÍ ARE APPEALING for information following a report of criminal damage at the historic Monachán graveyard in Taghmon, Co Wexford.

Local Aontú councillor Jim Codd condemned the “perverse” attack which he said left 18 gravestones damaged, with some smashed and others pulled from the ground.

Monachán graveyard is a burial site for people of both Catholic and Protestant faiths, which contains graves dating from the 1700s to the 2000s.

Speaking to The Journal, Codd said the damage caused by the “mind-boggling” vandalism was not done “on a whim” as it likely would have required several people using tools such as sledgehammers for many hours.

“This is not just the work of wayward children or mere teenagers,” Codd said, adding that this is the second attack on the graveyard in the past decade and has been “terribly upsetting” for the local community. 

Councillor Jim Codd said a stone cross that had stood for hundreds of years was damaged.

“The perpetrators and whatever perverse thinking was driving them went about breaking heavy, heavy stones that were hundreds of years old, and smashing them up. Ancient crypts were broken. The granite plinths that surrounded ancient graves were pulled out,” Codd said.

“You would have to be physically very strong to do this. Even graves that were surrounded by metal protections and bars, they broke into those crypts.”

The councillor said a stone cross that had stood for hundreds of years was damaged, while a large cast iron Celtic cross was “smashed to pieces off a wall”.

He said the wall of the graveyard had also been damaged, with stones pulled from it.

“It’s mind-boggling as to why anybody would go about devastating the graveyard on such a large scale,” Codd said.

“All members of our community have the utmost respect for the burial places of their dead. It is hard to imagine anybody in their right mind would do such a thing.”

"People are very, very upset about this," Codd said.

“People are very, very upset about this. This is an attack on the heart of our village, our identity, our beliefs, our history, our culture. This is the final resting place of our loved ones.”

A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána said the incident occurred between 20 April and 27 July 2026.

Codd said that the damage was first brought to his attention last week after a caretaker of the graveyard noticed it.

“The graveyard is a quiet, isolated place, even though it’s in the village. It’s not somewhere that’s regularly visited, except probably by historians,” he explained.

A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána said: “Anyone with any information is asked to contact Wexford Garda Station on (053) 9165 200, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.”

“Investigations are ongoing.”