Kilbarrack Cemetery Explained

Kilbarrack Cemetery is a graveyard located in North Dublin.

History

The graveyard is mentioned in Brendan Behan's autobiography Borstal Boy (1958) - "So many belonging to me lay buried in Kilbarrack, the healthiest graveyard in Ireland they said, because it was so close to the sea".^[1] His novel 'Richard's Cork Leg' is set in the cemetery.

There is a church known as Saint Fintan's Church, which in part is dated to the 9th century.^[2]

There is a cenotaph dedicated to executed IRA member Frank Flood which was erected by his parents.^[3]

Notable burials

• Eoin MacNeill, Irish nationalist, scholar and politician.^[4]
• James McNeill, brother of the above and Governor-General of the Irish Free State^[5]
• Josephine McNeill, wife of the above, Irish diplomat.^[6]
• Daniel Head, IRA volunteer killed in the Burning of the Custom House^[7]
• Thomas Wall, killed in the Battle of Dublin during the Irish Civil War^[8]
• Francis Higgins, an informer during the 1798 rebellion. His tomb was later smashed with sledgehammers and there is no trace of its remains today.^[9]

References

53.3878°N -6.1336°W

Notes and References

1. Book: Behan . Brendan . Borstal Boy . 2009 . . 371.
2. Book: Liddy . Pat . Walking Dublin Twenty-four Original Walks in and Around Dublin . 2005 . Interlink Books . 146.
3. Book: Igoe . Vivien . Dublin Burial Grounds & Graveyards . 2001 . Wolfhound Press . 137.
4. Book: Doran . Beatrice . From the Grand Canal to the Dodder Illustrious Lives . 2021 . History Press.
5. Web site: [Group of people standing beside a grave covered with wreaths, possibly the funeral of James McNeill at Kilbarrack Cemetery, Dublin |url=https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000622173 |publisher=[[National Library of Ireland]].
6. Book: Kennedy. Michael . McGuire. James. Quinn. James. Dictionary of Irish Biography. 2009. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. McNeill, Josephine.
7. Book: O'Halpin . Eunan . O Corrain . Daithi . The Dead of the Irish Revolution . Yale University Press . 445.
8. News: Conlon . Padraig . NEW LEASE OF LIFE FOR HEALTHIEST GRAVEYARD IN IRELAND . Dublin People . 25 August 2020.
9. Book: Hopkins . Frank . Rare Old Dublin Heroes, Hawkers & Hoors . 2003 . 53.