Graveyard

The National Monuments Service's description

The Huguenot burial ground (1660-1858) listed in the Dublin RMP as 'Graveyard Site' was built in 1685 as an extension to the larger graveyard as the 'Cabbage Garden Graveyard' (DU018-020356- ) which was listed as a 'Graveyard' in the Dublin RMP. A burial ground annotated 'French Burying Ground' is shown on Rocque's 1756 map of Dublin with Old Castle (DU018-020109-) to the N. On this map the burial ground is depicted as a narrow L-shaped graveyard (dims. 46m E-W x 10m N-S) aligned on an E-W axis and accessed off the S side of Kevin Street Upper via Cabbage Garden Lane (now Cathedral Lane) which ran S towards a graveyard called the 'Cabbage Garden' (DU018-020356-). The French Burying Ground was a separate enclosed graveyard attached to the NW corner of the Cabbage Garden Graveyard. This is where members of the Dublin Huguenot community who worshipped in St Patrick's Cathedral (DU018-020086-) Lady Chapel were buried (Lennon & Montague 2010, 61). In 1685 the Huguenot community petitioned the Archbishop of Dublin 'who allotted them a strip of the Cabbage Garden, 150 feet [45m] long by 30 feet [9m] wide at one end and 38 feet [11.5m] wide at the other end on condition that the French refugees should enclose the ground with a sufficient stone or brick wall with a decent gate thereto and maintain all in good repair on a lease from the Churchwardens of St. Patrick's Cathedral at 12 pence' (Fraser 1979, 144).
The French Graveyard was described by the Huguenot Society as follows; 'The Burial Ground of these Churches [French] is situate at the very end of Cathedral Lane, on the right hand side as you go from Kevin Street, and was a portion of the piece of ground commonly known as the Cabbage Garden from the plants originally grown therein, which was reused for the purpose to the Churchwardens on their petition in the year 1681, by the Dean and Chapter of St. Patrick's, at a rent of twelve pence a year, and, on the conditions that they should put a decent gate thereto, enclose the ground with a sufficient stone or brick wall, and maintain the same in good repair. In 1685, the Archbishop of Dublin, being asked to consecrate this ground, intimated that he did not think the lease sufficient, without a Deed, by the Dean and Chapter, that they would not alienate it. The latter agreed and directed that such a Deed as was required should be drawn up by Counsel for them to sign. This ground has been practically closed as a burying ground since the year 1858'.

Cross-reference with DU018-020356-

Fraser, A.M. 1979 The Cabbage Garden. Dublin Historical Record, Vol. 32, No. 4, 142-145.

See attached section of Rocque's 1756 Map of Dublin showing the 'French Burying Ground' and Old Castle. See attached 1847 ed. OSi 6-inch map where the burial ground is annotated 'French Grave Yard'. "City of Dublin," held by Ordnance Survey Ireland. © Public domain. Digital content: © Ordnance Survey Ireland, published by UCD Library, University College Dublin <http://digital.ucd.ie/view/ucdlib:40863>

Compiled by: Geraldine Stout

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 13 December 2022

References

Rocque, J. 1760 An Actual Survey of the County of Dublin, on the same Scale, as those of Middlesex, Oxford, Berks and Buckinghamshire. Available at http://sdublincoco.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=e0c5595b033341dea7661e248d2e9ee9// [Accessed 21 September 2016]

Rocque, J. 1756 An exact survey of the city and suburbs of Dublin. Available at https://libguides.ucd.ie/findingmaps/mapshistDublin Accessed on 5 January .

Lennon, C. and Montague, J. 2010 John Rocque's Dublin: a guide to the Georgian City. Dublin. Royal Irish Academy.