Wordless Wednesday: Burial Place of Dublin Metropolitan Police: Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin

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All Photographs Copyright© J.Geraghty-Gorman 2011.

Tombstone Tuesday: Captain Holland Lecky McGhee: 20 January 1844

Offering little information about him this teetering stone reads:

Captain Holland Lecky McGhee

He fell asleep looking unto Jesus

as all his Salvation

on the 20th day of January 1844

in the 45th year of his Age.

Mystery Monday: Widow of Francis Mills

Her maiden name is unrecorded; her forename will soon be dust, but we are told Anne was the Widow of Francis Mills.  As is often the case in this period, Anne is remembered by virtue of her connection to her husband.

The stone reads:

In Memory of

Anne

Widow of Francis Mills

Died

13 February

1869,

Aged

80 Years

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All photographs Copyright© J.Geraghty-Gorman 2011.

Mystery Monday: A familiar grave with an unfamiliar occupant

Grave of Margaret Dunning, interred 1884, and Family grave of my granduncle Michael Francis Magee, his parents Patrick Magee and Mary Dunne Magee, and sister Anne Magee Geraghty.

This is perhaps not a mystery as such, but a series of interesting happenings which led me to uncover a brief history about an unknown person interred in the same grave as my paternal great-grandparents, grandmother, and granduncle.

A while ago, when I was getting some documents in order, for some reason I could not find the hard copy record I had created of those buried in this family grave. I had been in possession of this record since 2008 when a woman in the (then very small) reception office of Glasnevin gave me the grave number, and a list of persons interred within, namely, my grandmother, her parents, and brother Michael.

Since about 2007 the Prospect Cemetery at Glasnevin, popularly known as Glasnevin Cemetery, has been undergoing a renovation programme. In addition to renovating the grounds and building the new visitor's centre, they rebuilt their website. It is now set up with lots of good information including a searchable records section. On my misplaced record, I thought I had all of the information about who was interred in the plot, so I could have just created another hard copy record; however, I had a sort of odd feeling that I should confirm the information I had, and so I looked up the record on the Glasnevin website. When I did I discovered there was something different about the record, an extended version was offered, with more information than the reception woman had offered in 2008. Much to my surprise I discovered another person is interred in the grave with my family members. A woman was interred in the plot a full thirty-seven years before Michael Magee was laid to rest in this grave, a woman to whom the Magees may or may not be related, a woman named Margaret Dunning.

Full record of Margaret Dunning's interment from Glasnevin Register

Margaret Dunning was the wife of William Christopher Dunning, an Inland Revenue Officer. Together they lived in a house at 22 Nicholas Street in Dublin, Ireland. Margaret and William had one son, Samuel, who was born in April of 1884; he was only six months old when his mother died. Margaret died on 6 October 1884 of Phthisis {Tuberculosis}; she was 24 years old. On 8 October 1884, she was interred in plot #320.5 in the St. Bridget’s section of Glasnevin.

It is not unusual that someone who is not a family member would be interred in such a grave. There are many graves of this nature in Glasnevin. Margaret Dunning's family would have paid for her to be interred, but did not purchase the plot itself. The grave would have been unmarked, and able to be reopened for other persons to be interred within. When Michael Magee died in 1921 he was interred in this grave. Only the party who purchases the plot is allowed to erect a stone. In this case the plot was purchased by those connected to the Magees, a stone was erected, and so Margaret Dunning's presence in this grave goes unmentioned on the stone.

An interesting twist to this story...

In August of 2010, one Friday I decided to take an afternoon off from researching in Dublin. I walked over to the area near Trinity College and just hopped on the first bus I saw. Along the way this bus travelled down Nicholas Street. I had no reason for photographing anything on Nicholas Street, but for some inexplicable reason I felt drawn to photograph this group of houses; perhaps I was attracted to the brilliant orange shade of the brick. Little did I know at that time that one of these houses is number 22 Nicholas Street in which young Margaret Dunning lived with her family in 1884.

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All Materials ©Copyright J.Geraghty-Gorman 2011.

"Bury me in Ireland, the land of my adoption...": Thomas Drummond: 1797-1840

The epitaph bears a paraphrase of what were allegedly his last words:

BURY ME IN IRELAND

THE LAND OF MY ADOPTION

I HAVE LOVED HER WELL

AND SERVED HER FAITHFULLY.

During his short life of only 43 years, Scottish-born, Thomas Drummond served as a Captain in the Royal Engineers, Head of the Boundary Commission (1832), Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Under Secretary of Ireland (1835 until his death 1840).

Popularly known as 'The Drummond Era', it is his time as Under Secretary of Ireland for which Thomas Drummond is best remembered. It is said that he was respected by the Irish because he ruled from Dublin Castle with impartiality and fairness. During his tenure, Drummond grappled with injustice in the legal system, monitored issues accruing as a result of the growing Orange Order movement, and established a centralized Police Service. He had other initiatives planned as well when he died while in office, 15 April 1840.

For more information see: Thomas Drummond.

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All photos Copyright© J.Geraghty-Gorman 2011.

Wordless Wednesday: Cruciform: The traditional and the untraditional

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Tombstone Tuesday: Cruciform City

Just inside the main gates of Glasnevin Cemetery, on the left hand side, lie row upon row of cruciform tombs. Interred within are members of the clergy, priests and canons, and other men of stature within the religious community. Many of the tombs have ornately carved celtic crosses adorning them, and some bear only simple crucifixes.

All photographs Copyright© J.Geraghty-Gorman 2011. All Rights Reserved.

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Among the rows of cruciform tombs: William J. Walsh, Archbishop of Dublin

Towering over the rows of cruciform tombs in Glasnevin cemetery is the final resting place of William J. Walsh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, and Primate of Ireland. Walsh was born in Dublin 30 January 1841. He was educated at the Catholic University, under Cardinal Newman, and continued his clerical studies at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. After graduation, he was appointed Professor of Dogmatic and Moral Theology, a post he held from 1867 to 1878. He became president of Maynooth College in 1881.

Walsh took an active part in public affairs, and was a leading nationalist in the hierarchy of the Irish clergy. Walsh openly endorsed the land agitation movement of the 1880s. Possibly because of the stand that he took, the British government opposed his appointment as Archbishop of Dublin in 1885. He was a strong supporter of Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party and founder of the Irish National Land League; however, when the scandal broke of Parnell’s relationship with Mrs Kitty O’Shea, Walsh turned against Parnell.

William J Walsh died in Dublin in 9 April 1921. Following his death he was described as “the greatest Archbishop of Dublin since St Laurence O’Toole”. His monument in Glasnevin cemetery was sculpted by renowned Irish sculptor Albert Power.

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Biographical Reference: Glasnevin Trust.

Tombstone Tuesday: The Anchor of the Family

The stone reads:

Erected by

Kate Barry

In Loving Memory of Her Husband

George David Barry

Late of William Street, Limerick

Who Died 26th November 1887 Aged 46

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Copyright© J.Geraghty-Gorman 2011.