Progress made on securing sites for Kildare cemetery

A North Kildare Fianna Fáil councillor has said that works to secure two plots of land to deal with the expanding Confey Cemetery in Leixlip will ensure that there is burial space for locals “for years to come.”

Cllr Bernard Caldwell was speaking to The Leinster Leader today (March 31 2026), when he offered an update on the status of Confey Cemetery, which has long been a source of contention for local residents.

Cllr Caldwell has been working behind the scenes for the past number of years in an attempt to secure additional space for Confey Cemetery.

Up until recently, the Leixlip cemetery was officially full, until extra land was utilised in the older part of the existing site, he said.

“The graveyard that we've been using, we managed to find some extra spaces, which will keep us ticking over for a few months”, Cllr Caldwell said.

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“After that then, Kildare County Council has managed to find a little spot near the graveyard, I don't know how many acres but it will keep us going for another two years.

“In the meantime, Kildare County Council are actively engaged in purchasing land not too far away from the graveyard, but definitely in Leixlip.”

Cllr Caldwell said that the local authority has not negotiated costs for these additional sites just yet, as it is still to be determined if the lands are suitable.

The Fianna Fáil councillor says he unfortunately has “no answers” as to when works will proceed or the new sites will open, except to say that Kildare County Council is actively engaged in the process.

He does however point out that when the sites do go ahead, “there'll be space for a long, long time”, and there'll be “years and years of usage.”

While Kildare County Council haven't decided how much land they want yet, the graveyard will provide for “a long time to come”, he said.

“I've been pushing for this for the last six or seven years, Confey Cemetery has been becoming fuller and fuller every week. I've just been chasing the council continuously and I think finally now it's got through and we're going to see extra spaces.

“We've enough space now to keep it going for a couple of years, which is great. That's a big relief now. Because people were saying, 'where are we going to have our burials?', but I genuinely don't know (when the sites will go ahead.)”