The sister of a Derry nun has appealed for people to be respectful when visiting her gravestone and her family home.
Sister Clare Crockett tragically died after the school she was teaching music at in Playa Prieta, Ecuador, collapsed during a 7.8-magnitude earthquake in April 2016.
Last November, the 33-year-old from the Brandywell was declared a Servant of God by the Catholic Church – the first step towards being canonised as a saint.
Her sister Shauna Gill told BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme: “There are days you come to that grave and you would have to queue and we love that people come to the grave, but they are disrupting other graves around it.”
Derry and Strabane District Council, which owns the City Cemetery, is to consider installing paths and railings around the grave of Sr Clare to accommodate an uptick in visitors to the site.
“There are just so many people that come from everywhere, they are not just from Derry, they travel from afar,” said Shauna Gill.
“I totally understand other families’ disappointment when they see other people are standing on graves.
“They are touching Clare’s gravestone and posing for photos with the headstone, so some people are just not thinking about their surroundings.
“A lot of people are respectful, but there are some graves that are being damaged around it.”
Ms Gill said the narrow path makes it difficult for people to navigate the grave and believes removing hedging at the back of the grave and installing railings could help with access.
“This could take all that congestion away from the front of the grave,” she said.
Ms Gill said she understands why people come to pray to Sr Clare, but they must understand their parents are also buried there.
She said it can be hard for her family to visit the grave for a quiet moment of reflection knowing “you might not get near the grave”.
The Catholic Bishop of Derry, the Most Reverend Donal McKeown, has told Radio Foyle every grave is sacred and every family should have the right to pay their respects.
He said the Sr Clare’s grave was “a major attraction” at the cemetery and a number of signposts had been erected to guide visitors to it.
“Many people who have even come to visit me in Derry and have asked specifically to visit the grave,” he said.
“I just hope something can be done for all the family involved.”
He said long-term plans are being considered to manage the sheer volume of people arriving into the cemetery and sites linked to Sr Clare.
People have also been turning up at Sr Clare’s former home in Derry with some even asking for an item of her clothing.
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