Graveyard, Howth, Co. Dublin

Co. Dublin |

Burial Grounds

Graveyard, Howth, Co. Dublin

A graveyard that sits noticeably below street level is unusual enough, but this one at Howth comes with something stranger still: a crenellated perimeter wall, the kind of battlemented stonework more commonly associated with medieval fortifications than burial grounds.

The entrance at the southwest corner requires you to step down considerably from the pavement, and to the north the ground simply falls away in a sheer drop of around thirty feet. The enclosure is square in plan, hemmed in by housing to the south and west, with Abbey Road running along the eastern edge. It is a compact, contained space that manages to feel distinctly precarious.

The crenellated wall is old enough to have caught the attention of Gabriel Beranger, the Dutch-born antiquarian and artist who documented Irish antiquities during the eighteenth century, and whose sketches remain a valuable record of structures that have since been altered or lost. His depiction confirms the wall was already a notable feature in his time. In October 2011, that same northern wall was tested by torrential rain, and a section of it collapsed, bringing down a significant portion of the ground with it and exposing coffins beneath. The recovery operation involved removing and reinstating the disturbed burials and buttressing the external face of the wall. Engineering monitoring points were subsequently installed along the interior wall and on the church, a reminder that the site still requires careful attention.

The graveyard holds a range of markers spanning the eighteenth century to the present, from plain undecorated stones to the more elaborate table tombs, which are raised rectangular chest-like monuments that were popular among wealthier families in earlier centuries. Visitors approaching from Abbey Road should look for the southwest entrance and be prepared for the step down into the enclosure. The repaired northern wall is worth examining from outside if you want to appreciate both the crenellation Beranger recorded and the more recent buttressing that followed the 2011 collapse. The monitoring points along the interior wall are modest but oddly affecting, a quiet acknowledgement that this particular patch of ground requires ongoing negotiation with gravity.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Graveyard, Howth, Co. Dublin. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement