Watch | How The Hindu helped an Irish woman trace her grand uncle’s grave

Sheila Shanley, 74, lives in the heritage town of Trim in County Meath, North Ireland. Her grand uncle, a British soldier who died 108 years ago, rested at what is now known as the Church of South India (CSI) Cemetery in Trimulgherry, a buzzing locality in Telangana’s Secunderabad. 

Shanley, living thousands of miles away, has spent over four decades tirelessly searching online for any trace of her grandmother’s brother, Rifleman Michael Joseph Leonard, but his final resting place remained elusive.

Hope rekindled when Shanley stumbled upon a news feature titled ‘Resting with Dignity a Century On’, published in The Hindu on December 16, 2019. The feature highlighted the 94 graves of British soldiers and officers, all commemorated in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.