Mount Jerome Cemetery is situated in Harold's Cross on the south side of
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
,
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
. Since its foundation in 1836, it has witnessed over 300,000 burials. Originally an exclusively
ProtestantThe Church of Ireland is a Christian church, an autonomous province of the Episcopal/Anglican Communion, operating across the island of Ireland, and the largest non-Roman Catholic religious body on the island...
cemetery,
Roman CatholicsThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
have also been buried there since the 1920s.
The name of the cemetery comes from an estate established there by the Reverend Stephen Jerome, then vicar of St. Kevin's Parish. In the early 17th century Harold's Cross was part of St.
Mount Jerome Cemetery is situated in Harold's Cross on the south side of
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
,
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
. Since its foundation in 1836, it has witnessed over 300,000 burials. Originally an exclusively
ProtestantThe Church of Ireland is a Christian church, an autonomous province of the Episcopal/Anglican Communion, operating across the island of Ireland, and the largest non-Roman Catholic religious body on the island...
cemetery,
Roman CatholicsThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
have also been buried there since the 1920s.
History
The name of the cemetery comes from an estate established there by the Reverend Stephen Jerome, then vicar of St. Kevin's Parish. In the early 17th century Harold's Cross was part of St. Kevin's Parish. What is now Mount Jerome Cemetery was at that time the land occupied by the vicar of St. Kevin's Parish. In the latter half of the 17th century, the land passed into the ownership of the
Earl of MeathEarl of Meath is a title in the Peerage of Ireland created in 1627 and held by the head of the Brabazon family. This family descends from Sir Edward Brabazon, who represented County Wicklow in the Irish House of Commons and served as High Sheriff of Staffordshire. In 1616 he was raised to the...
, who in turn leased plots to prominent Dublin families. A house, Mount Jerome House, was constructed in one of these plots, and leased to
John KeoghJohn Keogh was a leading Irish campaigner who struggled to get Irish Roman Catholics the right to vote and the repeal of the Penal Laws. He was of an obscure family and made his considerable fortune in land speculation, brewing, and silk trading...
. In 1834, after an aborted attempt to set up a cemetery in the
Phoenix ParkPhoenix Park is the largest enclosed urban public park in Europe located 3 km to the north west of Dublin city centre in Ireland. It measures , with a walled circumference of 16 km that contains large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues. The park has been home to a herd of wild...
, the General Cemetery Company of Dublin bought the Mount Jerome property, "for establishing a general cemetery in the neighbourhood of the city of Dublin".
The Funerary Chapel Mount Jerome Cemetery was the first Puginian Gothic church in Dublin. It was designed by
William AtkinsWilliam Atkins was an Irish architect of the Victorian era.A native of Cork, William Atkins is an architect whose fame has been lost to posterity, although in 1846 he received one of the largest public commissions in Cork city, to build the city and county asylum...
.
Notable burials
Notable people buried here include:
- Robert Adams
Robert Adams was an Irish surgeon who was educated at Trinity College, Dublin between 1810 and 1814, and who later became president of the Royal College of Surgeons and the Dublin Pathological Society, and, in 1862, both Surgeon in Ordinary to the Queen in Ireland, and Regius Professor of Surgery...
(1791-1875), professor of surgery
- Edward Bunting
Edward Bunting was an Irish musician and folk music collector.-Life:Bunting was born in County Armagh, Ireland. At the age of seven he was sent to study music at Drogheda and at eleven he was apprenticed to William Ware, organist at St. Anne's church in Belfast and lived with the family of Henry...
(1773-1843), musician, music-collector
- Peter Caffrey
Peter Caffrey was an Irish actor best known for playing Padraig O'Kelly on Series 1-4 of Ballykissangel, but also well-regarded for his role as a transvestite in the film , and ....
(1949–2008), actor (Ballykissangel)
- James Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy
James Henry Mussen Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy PC was an Irish lawyer, politician in the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and later in the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State...
(1851–1931), lawyer, politician and Lord Chancellor of Ireland
- William Carleton
William Carleton was an Irish novelist.Carleton's father was a tenant farmer, who supported fourteen children on as many acres, and young Carleton passed his early life among scenes similar to those he later described in his books...
(1794-1869), writer
- Thomas Caulfield Irwin
Thomas Caulfield Irwin was an Irish poet, writer, and classical scholar.He was born in Warrenpoint, County Down,...
(1823-1892), poet, writer, scholar
- Abraham Colles
Abraham Colles was professor of Anatomy, Surgery and Physiology at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He was born into a wealthy family near Milmount, a townsland near Kilkenny, Ireland. His family owned the Black Quarry which produced the famous Black Kilkenny Marble...
(1773-1843), surgeon, professor of medicine
- John Augustus Conolly
John Augustus Conolly VC , born in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland, was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:He was 25 years old, and a lieutenant...
VCThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration which is, or has been, awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories. It takes precedence over all other orders, decorations and medals...
(1829-1888), soldier
- Achilles Daunt
Achilles Daunt was a noted Irish preacher and homilist, and Anglican dean of Cork.-Early life and education:Achilles Daunt descended from a cadet branch of the Daunt family of Owlpen, Gloucestershire, settled since 1575 at Tracton Abbey, County Cork. He was the eldest son of Achilles Daunt who...
(1832–1878), preacher and homilist
- Thomas Davis
Thomas Osborne Davis was a revolutionary Irish writer who was the chief organizer and poet of the Young Ireland movement.-Early life:...
, (1814-1845), journalist, politician
- Thomas Drummond
Captain Thomas Drummond , from Edinburgh, Scotland, was an army officer, civil engineer and senior public official. Drummond used the Drummond light which was employed in the trigonometrical survey of Great Britain and Ireland. He is sometimes mistakenly given credit for the invention of limelight,...
(1797-1840), surveyor, Under-Secretary for Ireland
- James Fitzgerald (1899–1971), American painter
- Edward Gibson, 1st Baron Ashbourne
Edward Gibson, 1st Baron Ashbourne was an Irish lawyer and Lord Chancellor of Ireland.Born at 22 Merrion Square, Dublin, the son of William Gibson J.P., of Rockforest, Co. Tipperary and Gaulstown, Co. Meath, by his first wife, Louisa, daughter of Joseph Grant, Barrister of Dublin...
(1837–1913), lawyer and Lord Chancellor of IrelandThe office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801 it was also sthe highest political office of the Irish Parliament....
- Robert Graves
Robert James Graves, M.D., F.R.C.S. was an Irish surgeon after whom Graves' disease takes its name. He was the founder of the Dublin Journal of Medical Science, the inventor of the second hand on watches and a leader of the Irish School of diagnostics.-Early life:Born on 27 March 1796 at Harcourt...
(1796-1853), professor of medicine and writer
- Sir Richard John Griffith (1784-1878), geologist, mining engineer, chairman of the Board of Works, author of Griffith's Valuation
Griffith's Valuation was a survey of Ireland completed in 1868. Richard John Griffith in 1825 was appointed by the British Government to carry out a boundary survey of Ireland. He was to mark the boundaries of every county, barony, civil parish and townland in preparation for the first Ordnance...
- Thomas Grubb
Thomas Grubb , born probably near Portlaw, Co. Waterford, Ireland, was an optician and founder of the Grubb Telescope Company. He started out in 1830 in Dublin as a metal billiard-table manufacturer. He diversified into making telescopes and erected a public observatory near his factory at No. 1...
(1800-1878), optician, telescope-maker
- Benjamin Guinness
Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, 1st Baronet was an Irish brewer and philanthropist.-Brewer:Born in Dublin, he was the third son of the second Arthur Guinness, and grandson of the latter's namesake who founded the Guinness brewery. He joined his father in the business at an early age, and in 1839 took...
(1798-1868], brewer, philanthopist, and other members of the GuinnessGuinness is a popular dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is based on the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide. A distinctive feature is the burnt...
family
- George Halpin
George Halpin , was a prominent civil engineer and lighthouse builder, responsible for the construction of much of the Port of Dublin, several of Dublin's bridges, and a number of lighthouses; he is considered the founding father of the Irish lighthouse service...
(Sr.) (1779–1854), civil engineer and lighthouse builder
- William Rowan Hamilton
Sir William Rowan Hamilton was an Irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician, who made important contributions to classical mechanics, optics, and algebra. His studies of mechanical and optical systems led him to discover new mathematical concepts and techniques...
(1805-1865), mathematician and astronomer
- James Haughton
James Haughton was a Irish social reformer and temperance activist.-Life:Haughton, son of Samuel Pearson Haughton , by Mary, daughter of James Pim of Rushin, Queen's County , Ireland, was born in Carlow and educated at Ballitor, County Kildare, from 1807 to 1810, under James White, a quaker...
(1795-1873), social reformer
- John Kells Ingram
John Kells Ingram was an Irish poet, patriot and scholar, as well as an economist and historian of economic thought.Ingram was born in Templecarne near Pettigo, County Donegal, of Scottish Presbyterian stock...
(1823–1907), politician, scholar, poet ("The Memory of the Dead")
- John Hewitt Jellett
John Hewitt Jellett was a college head, provost of Trinity College, Dublin. He was also a priest in the Church of Ireland during the Victorian Era....
(1817–1888), Provost of Trinity College
- John Edward Jones
John Edward Jones was a noted Irish civil engineer and sculptor, active in Dublin and London.Jones was born in Dublin, the son of miniature painter Edward Jones. As 'J...
(1806-1862), civil engineer and sculptor
- Thomas Kirk
Thomas Kirk was a noted Irish sculptor.He was born in Cork. He studied at the Dublin Society's School where he won prizes in 1797 and 1800. He later worked for Henry Darley, a skilfull builder and stone-cutter from Meath, based in Abbey Street, Dublin. Kirk was acclaimed for his fine relief work...
(1781-1845), sculptor, who also designed the Butler mausoleum in this cemetery
- John Skipton Mulvany
John Skipton Mulvany was a notable Irish architect. He was the fourth son of Thomas James Mulvany, one of the founder members, with his own brother John George, of the Royal Hibernian Academy.-Career:...
(1813-1870), architect who also designed a number of monuments in this cemetery, including the Mahony monument and Perry and West vaults
- John Mitchell Kemble
John Mitchell Kemble , English scholar and historian, was the eldest son of Charles Kemble the actor.He received his education partly from Dr Richardson, author of the Dictionary of the English Language, and partly at the grammar school of Bury St Edmunds, where he obtained in 1826 an exhibition to...
, scholar
- Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873), writer and editor, along with his wife, Susanna Bennett, her father and two brothers, in the same vault.
- Thomas Hawkesworth Ledwich
Thomas Hawkesworth Ledwich was an eminent Irish anatomist and surgeon.-Life:He was born in Waterford, where his father practiced law, son of Edward Ledwich and Catherine Hawkesworth, both of Queen's County...
(1823-1958), surgeon and anatomist
- Thomas Langlois Lefroy
Thomas Langlois Lefroy was an Irish-Huguenot politician and judge. He served as an MP for the constituency of Dublin University 1830–1841, Privy Councillor of Ireland 1835–1869 and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland 1852–1866....
(1776-1869), politician and judge
- Hans Garrett Moore
Hans Garrett Moore VC CB , born in Carlingford, County Louth, Ireland, was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:He was 43 years old, and a Major in the...
VCThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration which is, or has been, awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories. It takes precedence over all other orders, decorations and medals...
(1830-1889), soldier
- Arthur Thomas Moore
Arthur Thomas Moore VC CB was born in Carlingford, County Louth and educated at the East India Company College...
VCThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration which is, or has been, awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories. It takes precedence over all other orders, decorations and medals...
(1830-1912), soldier
- Sir Richard Morrison
-Life:He was born at Middleton, County Cork, the son of John Morrison, also an architect. Originally intended for the church, he was eventually placed as pupil with James Gandon, the architect, in Dublin...
(1767-1849), architect (Pro-CathedralA Pro-cathedral is a parish church that is temporarily serving as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese.In Ireland, the term is used to specifically refer to St Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin, the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin since the Reformation, when Christ Church...
, Trinity CollegeTrinity College Dublin , corporately designated as the Provost, Fellows and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", and is the only constituent college of...
, etc.)
- William Vitruvius Morrison
William Vitruvius Morrison was an Irish architect, son and collaborator of Sir Richard Morrison.-Life:He was born at Clonmel, County Tipperary, second son of Sir Richard Morrison . His middle name derives from the first century B.C. Roman architect Marcus Vitruvius Pollio...
(1794-1838), architect, son and collaborator of Richard
- Walter Osborne
Walter Frederick Osborne was an Irish impressionist. Most of his paintings featured women, children, and the elderly as well as rural scenes. He remains one of the most respected Irish painters.-Career:...
(1859–1903), artist
- William McFadden Orr
William McFadden Orr, FRS was an Irish mathematician.He was born in Comber, County Down and educated at Methodist College Belfast and Queen's College, Belfast before entering St John's College, Cambridge and graduating as Senior Wrangler in 1888...
(1866-1934), mathematician
- George Papworth
George Papworth was an English architect who practised mainly in Ireland during the nineteenth century.-Early life and career:Papworth was born in London in 1781 and was the third son of the English stuccoist John Papworth...
(1781-1855), architect
- Jacob Owen (1778-1870), architect and engineer to the Board of Works
- George Petrie (1790-1886), artist, archaeologist, musician
- William Plunket, 4th Baron Plunket (1828-1897), Archbishop of Dublin
- Sarah Purser
Sarah Purser was an Irish artist. She was born in Kingstown in County Dublin, and raised in Dungarvan, County Waterford. She was educated in Switzerland and afterwards studied at the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin and in Paris at the Académie Julian. She worked mostly as a portraitist...
(1848-1943), artist
- George Russell
Not to be confused with George William Erskine Russell .George William Russell who wrote under the pseudonym Æ , was an Irish nationalist, writer, editor, critic, poet, and painter...
(1867-1935), writer, artist
- Robert William Smith (1807-1873), pathologist
- John Millington Synge
Edmund John Millington Synge was an Irish playwright, poet, prose writer, and collector of folklore. He was one of the cofounders of the Abbey Theatre. He is best known for the play The Playboy of the Western World, which caused riots during its opening run at the Abbey theatre...
(1871-1909), playwright
- Isaac Weld
Isaac Weld was an Irish topographical writer, explorer, and artist.He was born on 15 March 1774 on Fleet Street, Dublin, Ireland....
(1774-1856), topographical writer, explorer and artist.
- William Wilde
Sir William Robert Wills Wilde MD, FRCSI, was an Irish eye and ear surgeon, as well as an author of significant works on medicine, archaeology and folklore, particularly concerning his native Ireland...
and Jane Francesca ElgeeJane Francesca Agnes, Lady Wilde was an Irish poet and supporter of the nationalist movement; had a special interest on Irish Fairy Tales, which she helped to gather...
, parents of Oscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish playwright, poet and author of numerous short stories and one novel. Known for his biting wit, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest "celebrities" of his day...
- Edward Perceval Wright
Edward Percival Wright was an Irish ophthalmic surgeon, botanist and zoologist.-Family, education and career:He was the eldest son of barrister, Edward Wright and Charlott Wright. Edward was educated by a private tutor, and was taught natural history by George James Allman.From 1852 he studied at...
(1834-1910), ophthalmic surgeon, botanist and zoologist
- Jack Butler Yeats
John "Jack" Butler Yeats was an Irish artist. His early style was that of an illustrator; he only began to work regularly in oils in 1906. His early pictures are simple lyrical depictions of landscapes and figures, predominantly from the west of Ireland—especially of his boyhood home of Sligo...
(1871-1957), artist
There is a large plot to the deceased members of the
Royal Irish ConstabularyThe armed Royal Irish Constabulary was Ireland's major police force for most of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police controlled the capital. The cities of Derry and Belfast had special divisions within the RIC. The...
and the
Dublin Metropolitan PoliceThe Dublin Metropolitan Police was the police force of Dublin, Ireland, from 1836 to 1925, when it amalgamated into the new Garda Síochána....
. The remains of French Huguenots from St. Peter's Churchyard, Peter's Row (now the location of the Dublin YMCA), which was demolished in the 1980s, and from St. Brigid's and St. Thomas's churchyards are interred in the cemetery.
Recent burials include the notorious
Martin CahillMartin Cahill was a prominent Irish criminal from Dublin.Cahill generated a certain notoriety in the media, which referred to him by the sobriquet "The General". The name was also used by the media in order to discuss Cahill's activities while avoiding legal problems with libel...
(1949-1994) (known as "The General"). As he was an unpopular Dublin figure his gravestone has been vandalised on numerous occasions and is currently broken in two with the top half missing.
Flora
The cemetery has one of only two
Christ-thorn bushesPaliurus spina-christi, commonly known as Jerusalem Thorn, Garland Thorn, Christ's Thorn, or Crown of Thorns, is a species of Paliurus native to the Mediterranean region and southwest and central Asia, from Morocco and Spain east to Iran and Tajikistan.It is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing...
in Ireland (the other is in the Botanic Gardens).
Literary references
- Then Mount Jerome for the protestants. Funerals all over the world everywhere every minute. Shovelling them under by the cartload doublequick. Thousands every hour. Too many in the world. Ulysses
Ulysses is a novel by James Joyce, first serialized in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on February 2, 1922, in Paris...
, Chapter 6, Hades episode, James JoyceJames Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish expatriate author, playwright and poet of the 20th century. He is known for his landmark novel Ulysses and its controversial successor Finnegans Wake , as well as the short story collection Dubliners and the semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of...
.
External links