Croak Park The Dead Centre

Ah there you are! Welcome …. Come in … Stay a while ….. Or maybe longer…..
My name is Michael Cleary, of Francis Street, in Dublin City.

You should find yourself this fine day standing at my last resting spot ….. for my life on earth was short, the consumption took me and I passed to the next world at the tender age of 11 years. I was brought here by my grieving parents, to this very spot on 22nd February, in the year of Our Lord 1832, and I hold the dubious honour of being the first person interred here, for it was just a new graveyard then, of only 9 acres and known as Prospect Cemetery. They wanted this to be a garden cemetery and laid it out as such.

Oh, but how it's grown over the nearly two centuries that have passed, it's 124 acres now …. and I've been joined by so very many ….. more than 1.5 million souls have been laid to rest here…… that's more than those that are alive today in Dublin City!!! These include the nation's great and good, which is why, over the years, it has come to be thought of as the 'national' cemetery.

Everyone here – the famous, the infamous and the nameless who are laid in paupers' graves – all have a story. There's mystery and history here….. and even a ghost or two ….

This place was the 'brain-child' of Daniel O'Connell, the Liberator, who lies buried beneath the large tower you'll see later. There were anti –Catholic laws back then, that denied us even the right to our own burial grounds. So this non-denominational graveyard was a huge step for the people.

It became the first graveyard where both Catholics and Protestants could be assured a dignified and appropriate burial service. And now it's used not only for them but for people of all creeds and none.

But it's time to move on for we have many steps to take today … but before we go: take note of my mother's name …. For you will use this to pass to the next part of this tale……

“How many! All these here once walked around Dublin. Faithful departed”
– So wondered Leopold Bloom as he wandered here - Ulysses, James Joyce.

Come follow me through the gate and back to the main path ……and we'll take a stroll …. Turn to your left now and walk back towards the old Prospect Gate …. Then veer right and follow the railing round the curve.

Take another few steps with me …… We'll take the first turn left on the pathway and follow the outer wall towards the Tower in the far corner.

You may notice as we walk that all the headstones are facing in your direction…. You can read the names and the inscriptions, placed there so long ago.

The old ways said that Christians were buried facing east – so they can rise to face the return of the Christ upon the call of Gabriel's trumpet …. Now that wasn't the way for clergymen who are buried facing west, so they would be facing their congregation, ready to lead their people once again.

Whether you believe this or not… you will see as we walk today that thousands upon thousands were buried here in this manner, not taking any chances or pious belief? Who knows…… some also say the tradition began when Pagans buried their dead so they would face the rising sun.

You may spot the headstone of Conor Cruise O'Brien about ¾ ways down the path – his plain headstone reads “Conor Cruise O'Brien – 1917 – 2008 - Scholar & Statesman”. It is unusual in its simplicity. For you will see many more fancy and ornate memorials as we walk today.

So many different sizes and shapes of crosses and markers – but from the simplest slab of weathered stone to the most imposing monument, every one bears witness to a life that in ways, big or small, helped shape the Ireland you have today.

We'll pass some the resting place of many famous people today, but mostly we'll be looking for the not so famous ones.

So as you walk follow the wall, the huge plot now on your right is the old Angels plot. Such a place of sadness this, above all others here. Once poor ground and burial place for adults, and the resting place of more than 50,000 babies and children who lie here in un-marked graves. This is one of the few cemeteries that allowed stillborn babies to be buried in consecrated ground.

Have you reached the Tower? Take a look at the plaque on the wall - Gruesome carry on there was – for up there in the College for Doctors they wanted the bodies – so the grave robbers slipped in here at night and dug them up – took the bodies out from behind the headstone so they'd be less likely to be spotted at their grisly work. I'm told the body snatchers got £2 for an adult's body, and children were sold by the inch! Six shillings for the first twelve inches and nine pennies per inch for the remainder. They built these towers and gave the guards guns and dogs – and many the night they used both to keep the blighters out.

Take note of the last number on the wall next to the tower for you will need it soon.

Continue on and around, along by the wall, and then taking the path to the right – ‘till you have walked 3 sides of the Angels plot, and back to the main pathway. Spend not too long to read the sorrowful lists of babies names and young ages lost, for it will make your heart heavy this day.

Pass on your way. But know that now, at last, they are acknowledged and remembered here.

When you get to that far corner – the corner diagonal to the tower – you will see the statue and commemorative plaque laid some years ago for these poor souls – a child holding a dove.

Before going in the direction of O'Connell's Tower, with the Angel Plot on your right cross over the main path and go down the side path opposite. There are Yew trees all along the path. You're looking for an unusual headstone, one like no other in this place, just after the 4th tree on the left... there's a low railing around the grave and you might think the headstone has been folded like a blanket over the railing – take note of the surname on the stone ….. (it sounds like a colour too).

Turn back now, from whence you came to the main path, and turn right towards O'Connell's Tower.

Half way up this path, a bit after the last tree on your left, you will come to the grave and monument in the picture here. Even though they are either side of the path, they are both for the same man, for one is his resting place, with the Celtic cross, and the other one is a testament to his memory. His name was Thomas Henry Burke, and if you look closely at the writing on the monument you will see that he was an important man and well respected….but not by all …. and also that he was brought to rest here after he was assassinated in the Phoenix Park, not so far away, along with Lord Cavendish......Killed by the Invincibles in 1882 for the sake of Ireland's freedom …. Later we will find the grave of one of his killers and a plaque on it, listing the names of all involved, for they fought for Ireland and are listed as such.

So in this place the murdered and the murderer are equal …. They all go the same way sooner or later and return to the dust from whence they came.

We'll walk on now till we see the Easter Rising Necrology Wall on our left. They put it up for the centenary of the Rebellion of 1916 - The necrology wall lists the names of 485 people identified as having died in the Rising, including 262 civilians, 107 British soldiers, 58 rebels and 13 policemen. It was a busy time here I can tell you, but each of them was given a proper burial by the workers.

Some of the names of those listed are well known, but the majority are the unknown dead of 1916. In many cases their names had been lost in the sands of time until now. Their stories tell the true history of the rebellion and what it meant for Ireland. The majority of the dead were civilians.

Without distinction between the two sides or innocent bystanders, the wall lists the names of everyone who died during the 1916 conflict, in chronological and alphabetical order. Not everyone agrees that both sides in the conflict are commemorated on the wall together. There were many objections to it & there has been vandalism done too, but I'll leave you to decide what you think of that yourself.

Of course the main grave here – standing alone, with the large cross, is
The Big Fella –Michael Collins, the nationalist leader, who was killed in an ambush, during the Irish Civil War in 1922. This is among the most visited, if not THE most visited grave in Glasnevin. The grave is constantly cared for by the general population, and fresh flowers are placed on it daily, nearly a 100 years after he was cut down in his prime at only 32.

Around him were buried 183 soldiers of the Irish Free State. And their names are recorded on the memorial around Collin's grave. Take a few moments to take all this in – so many here died for Ireland – to make her the free country she is today.

There's also a plaque to our soldiers who fell while serving with the United Nations.

When you're ready go back to the path and walk towards the tower, passing the café. If you look to your left as you pass the outdoor tables of the café you can see the likenesses of the executed 1916 leaders, who were the signatories of the Proclamation.

Moving on towards the Chapel, you should find yourself in an open area. The ‘new' entrance and the Museum are on your left. All the records are also kept in that building, records for each individual burial at Glasnevin cemetery since mine in 1832 were kept and survive still.

They reckon now that 800,000 people are buried here in ‘poor ground' or in un-purchased graves – the final resting place for those who, at the end of their days, for whatever reasons, had not the price of a grave. It was intended from day one that the poor of Dublin would have a place of burial here. And so it was, and so it is.

As you walk on you will see that many are commemorated and laid to rest here in this area …. You'll pass young Kevin Barry's plot with 8 others on the right …and Roger Casement is also there, so many young men executed to make our great nation a Nation once again.

Pause for a moment when you are at the Chapel. They put up that fine Celtic Cross on the right, just in front, to remember all the souls lost in An Gortá Mór – the Great Famine …. What a tragedy that was for our people……

Pause at the chapel, for I'd like you to see a couple of things around here.
Do you see the faces as shown in the picture here?

They are the faces of the rivers of Ireland ….. great work by the monumental sculptor James Pearse – he did all the fixed carvings in this chapel and plenty of other churches around the country too….. He was an interesting fellow, if you ever have time or the inkling to look him up …. His two sons are well known in Irish history too …. Although he is buried here, they are not, for Padraig & William lie in Arbour Hill Military Cemetery.

The tomb of Edward Cardinal McCabe lies opposite the entrance to the Chapel – it's said that the architect of this elaborate tomb had applied for the commission of designing the chapel, but when he failed to procure the job he was livid. His revenge was to create such an elaborate tomb for the Cardinal that people would notice that before and more than the chapel itself….. Step up for a moment and see the way the hands and feet of the Cardinal are worn away by people touching them ….. It's customary to kiss the ring of a Cardinal and it seems this is being replicated by people even today by touching the statue…. Touching the feet would also symbolise the washing of the feet, as a token of respect or reverence. He must be more popular now than when he was alive, for he was known in the town as a “Castle Bishop”, loyal to the crown, so unsympathetic to the nationalist cause that at times he had to have police protection. He came here in 1885. I was already here over 50 years by then.

But we'll leave him behind and move on on our walk today.

Take the path at the side of the chapel and follow the curve to the left towards the Columbarium Wall and the Garden of Remembrance. We have our own Crematorium here, the first in the country, opened in 1982. It's more & more popular as each year passes.

As you walk towards the Garden of Remembrance look to your right, you can see a green area behind it with one large lone boulder, with a single word engraved on it. Take note of the name on it for the next Chapter, this man was known as the uncrowned king of Ireland. The boulder is from his native county of Wicklow.

These were the cholera fields – where the victims of cholera were placed in mass graves. Each day a fresh mass grave would be opened in the morning and closed at nightfall with 40 or 50 bodies, some just picked up off the streets outside.

There was a terrible goings on back then, where they paraded the bodies of any famous or infamous dead people, through the streets and towns of Ireland. Such was this man's fear that this would be done to him that he ordered his body to be buried here, knowing they would be so afraid of disturbing the cholera victims and catching the dreaded plague themselves that they would leave him to rest in peace.

It's said that his was the largest funeral this graveyard had ever seen. The people all took sprigs of Ivy from the walls around to wear as buttonholes and now every year they call it “Ivy Day”.

Such was the chaos with the crowds at the funeral, cemetery officials decided that in future they would issue tickets for the really big celebrity funerals. One of these big-ticket events was the burial of Michael Collins.

Continue to follow the path, keeping the main outside wall to your left. You will pass various memorials to the fallen of both world wars. Next you come to the Cross of Sacrifice, as shown here in the picture.

This was erected to ensure those many thousands of Irish soldiers who lost their lives as a result of both World War One and World War Two are ‘forever remembered'. 

The wording on the stones was first laser lit (or so I heard them say)…. onto the stones and then inscribed – it can look as if it's crooked or off until you stand at the right spot to read it – then you can see it's perfect. It's written in 3 languages: Irish, English & French, and is quite touching. It talks of the French always looking after the graveyards of our young men: the flower of Irish chivalry, who fought and died for them in France, and if you ever get the chance to visit any of those graveyards in France you will know how true this it.

You may see headstones and markers all over this cemetery for the fallen soldiers – there's over 200 of them buried here, those that died later from wounds they had received in various battles. They're doing a nice job of marking their graves with their names, rank and ages etc.

Standing at the Cross of Sacrifice, if you turn around to about 8 o'clock you will see an area surrounded by a railing – with a large Celtic cross and some headstones beside it. These are the Jesuits graves.

Two interesting men are interred there, and whose names can be seen on the headstones.

One is P. Geradus Hopkins- known to us as the poet Gerard Manly Hopkins. His poetry is studied on the Leaving Cert syllabus even today.

The second is P. Francis Browne – a classmate of James Joyce and immortalised as ‘Mr.Browne, the Jesuit' in Finnegans Wake. Francis has a few claims to fame – he was an avid photographer from an early age. He was given a first-class ticket for the first two legs of the maiden voyage of the Titanic. He travelled to Cherbourg and onto Cobh on the ship – taking many photographs on the way. An American millionaire offered to pay for his ticket to New York, but his superior sent a telegram telling him to “Get off that ship”! The young novice complied. His photographs were subsequently published all around the world, and the Jesuit Snapper became a household name. In WW1 he served with the 1st Battalion of the Irish Guards, rose to the rank of Major, was injured on 5 separate occasions, and awarded medals for his bravery. All in all he took around 42,000 photographs which depict life in Ireland, Australia and other places, and of events he witnessed.

Fr. Browne taught in Belvedere College, and when former student Kevin Barry was facing execution during the Civil War in 1920, Browne cycled to the Vice-Regal Lodge in the Phoenix Park to make a personal appeal on his behalf. As we know it was unsuccessful and the 18 year old student was executed the next morning.

Fr. Francis Browne was laid to rest here in 1960 and a photograph was taken of the funeral with his own camera. I heard there's a great exhibition of his pictures below in Emo House where he lived for many years.

We'll take a short walk now, so you can ponder on all you've seen and heard, before we come to the next little group I want to tell you about.

Go back to the main path & with the watch tower to your back, and the various religious orders plots on your left, follow that path further into the graveyard.

At the first cross junction of paths, turn left, walk on & then take the 2nd path to the right.
Walk now following this path and keeping the new Angels plot on your left till you come to a little fork or triangle in the path. We're going to go straight ahead – taking the path that's to the right side of the triangle.

There are many different varieties of trees growing in the graveyard. From the Mediterranean Holm Oak, to the Chile Pine or the Monkey Puzzle tree you may know it as. The Scots Pine is 10,000 years in Ireland so it's nearly native now. There's holly & yew trees, and the common lime. But the trees you're coming up to now are the Giant Sequoia or Californian Redwoods and they are my favourites. These are the tallest living things on earth – they are huge majestic trees.

Between the 3rd and 4th trees on your left after the little triangle, we're going to pause and have a look around. Look for a grave with the name: Stoker on it and it's to the left of Eleanor Margaret Curley.

At this area you'll need to take one of the pictures needed to claim your Virtual Reward Cache. So read on to see what you must do.

This is the grave of Frank Owen Stoker. He was Ireland's last Wimbledon Winner. In 1890 and 1893 he and Joshua Pim won the doubles.

He was also a rugby union player. He is the only rugby international to have won Wimbledon. He played five times for Ireland in rugby union. As you might suspect from his surname, he was a cousin of Dracula creator Bram. He died and came here in 1939.
A few rows behind him there's another interesting chap reposing.

Standing in front of Robert Cullen's Celtic cross on the path (just to the left of Stoker) – look for De Groot: It's a small white headstone, with a cross, about 3 rows back.

Francis Edward de Groot, who was born here in Dublin, was a member of the right-wing New Guard of Australia, who was most famous for the protest when he "opened" the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932, in front of 300,000 people, before the New South Wales Premier, Jack Lang could do so.  He was not a member of the official party but, on horseback and dressed in his military uniform, he was able to blend in with the escort party of NSW Lancers. Lang was about to cut the ribbon to formally open the bridge, when de Groot rode forward and drew his ceremonial sword, making to cut the ribbon and declare the bridge open "in the name of the decent and respectable people of New South Wales”.

He was promptly arrested, tried and eventually fined a meagre £5. After the court case he sued for wrongful arrest on the grounds that a police officer had no right to arrest an officer of the Hussars. An out-of-court settlement was reached, and de Groot's ceremonial sword was returned to him. De Groot managed to make a profit out of the whole charade. He later returned to Ireland where he died.

De Groot's act made him a folk hero in Australia.

There's one other around here that we'll take a peek at- turn around now to the opposite side of the path – you're looking for a different shaped marker – more like a slab up on legs -shaped like a sloped table with a square greenish plaque on top, placed on a bed of cobbled stones.

This is where James “Skin the Goat” Fitzharris lies. (2nd row back)

Skin the Goat was the getaway driver for the Invincibles that killed Thomas Henry Burke whose monument and grave we saw earlier – lots of stuff written about that case & this man - like where he got his nickname for one! – if you have the time or the interest to read up on it you'll get a few laughs and be amazed at some of the co-incidences of the case.…. The names of the others are also engraved on the green metal plaque – there's 4 words on the bottom line on the plaque – use the last word to get to the next Chapter ….

Before you go - you'll need to take one of the two pictures needed to claim your Virtual Reward Cache – take a picture at one of the 3 people's graves we've talked about above: De Groot, Stoker or “Skin the Goat.” – Make it a good one, so I know you were here yourself – if you want to hide your face, show me something else to make the pic original – thumbs up, gps, etc or better again use your imagination and surprise me.

Walk on down the path – talking the first little path to your right – walk to the end and then turn left towards the watch tower. This is one of the many towers around the outer walls erected, as we talked about before, to guard from the body snatchers … that was so bad at one point that they built a portable tower that would move around, to be near & to guard the fresh graves …… eerie & grim times!

Turning right at the tower & keeping the tower and the wall on your left walk a few steps ‘till you see the tree in this picture on the right.

You'll notice there is no grave under the tree …. But that wasn't always the case, for that was the first resting place of Maria Higgins …. The only person in here to have died once, but been buried twice.

Maria & her husband hatched a plan to inherit £500 which couldn't be claimed by themselves, but only passed on after their deaths. So Maria willed the fortune to her brother and they had a fine wake and a mighty funeral for Maria. Then she hid in the basement of her house for 3 years … till she was so fed up that she gave herself up to the authorities…. She got off with 3 years sentence and the judge sent her home as having spent the time locked up already. Her husband was sentenced to 10 years, the judge stating he'd let him off with that, as at least he hadn't killed her. And the brother had vanished with the money.
Maria was buried for the second time many years later here in this cemetery in another spot.

We'll walk on now, look for the red markings on the wall – between IG & HG you might notice a grave as you pass, right beside the pathway that has the crescent moon & star of Islam on the headstone. Right next to it along the path the next grave has a crucifix for a marker and more crosses all around the grave. Would either of them have sat so close in life? Death – the great leveller.

Follow the wall to the next right turn … it's half way between the two towers.
Walking up here there are two big plots – one either side of the path – one is for the Royal Irish Constabulary. That was the police force in Ireland from the early nineteenth century until 1922. The other side of the path bears the graves of fallen members of the old DMP : the Dublin Municipal Police - this was the police force of Dublin, from 1836 to 1925, when it was amalgamated into the new Garda Síochána.

We are now approaching and entering what was known as the O'Connell Circle. When Daniel O'Connell died in Genoa and was brought back to Ireland, he was interred here in this circle. The rich and famous – the who's who of Dublin and indeed Ireland paid big money to have a vault or a plot here O'Connell's Circle.

At the top of the path, you will cross over a little ‘bridge' over the vaults. Inside there are 3 circular paths – we are going to take the middle one, turning right and walking anti-clock-wise. Lyons memorial is on the right and Michael O'Reilly's family vault is on the left.

Count the graves on your left (only the ones with headstones/markers and facing you) – starting with Michael O'Reilly family vault, count 14 markers and you will come to the one we seek. (Waypoint 1)

This man: Mathias O'Kelly, was a great friend of O'Connell's, he worked with him to set up Goldenbridge Cemetery and then this one. And indeed it was he that accompanied Daniels remains back to Ireland. He had a great interest in geology and left many memoirs on the geology of various counties to the Geological Society of Ireland.

You will see from the writing on his tombstone (and there is a lot of it) that he named his son Daniel O'Connell O'Kelly. What more of a tribute could he have given his old friend?

Now turn and put this grave behind you and look for the crypt that is in the picture.

Look straight through – see the grey flat grave- just visible in the greenery? That is the grave of Michael Cusack – the founder of the GAA – The Gaelic Athletic Association. His legacy lives on, all over Ireland today.

Go on around the circle and leave it at the first little “bridge” on your right.
Pause and look over the left side of the “bridge” and down at the vaults underneath. Look for Vault #1 and the name over the door.

A little story about the vaults - #9 was used to hide arms in, all during the civil war. They would sneak in there at night – put newspapers on the floor so as not to leave any trace and oil and check the guns. They came for them with a warrant ….. but it had been well cleared … no-one knew who took them …. But I saw…….

After crossing the little bridge turn left, a small path hugs the circle looking down at the vaults but we'll take the main tarmac path straight ahead. Walk on and you can see the outer wall ahead, but we'll take the first path to the right, going once again in the direction of O'Connell's tower.

Walk about 25 mts and look for the Casey grave on your left – ‘Joseph and his loving wife Anna'. Stand facing the grave – look to about 11 o'clock and you'll have a good view of a small white Celtic cross. This marks the resting place of Henry O'Neill. Henry was the man who sparked a major change in the style of headstones in Ireland. For decades, if not longer, people had put up all sorts of stones and monuments, following the English and other fashions. Henry pushed for a return to our roots, to start using the Celtic cross on our graves here again. And so people did. There are more than 40,000 Celtic crosses in this graveyard alone. It seemed only fitting that the powers that be erected one for him too.

Walk on now to the top of the path – you might notice flowers & plants growing on the graves here as you pass – depending on the time of year there's some lovely colour here – particularly around the grave of Bessie Boomer on your right. What a name! Bessie Boomer…She's still quite the character too.

Plenty of wildlife in the cemetery too – including a couple of swarms of bees who have hives in the hollow bases of some of the headstones.

The Tower was re-opened in 2018. It had been closed for 45 years, following a bomb detonation in 1971. You can climb to the top for a great view over the cemetery and the city. It was built to house the body of Daniel O'Connell, The Liberator and is worth the climb they say. You can spot it easily from all the cemetery, as it looms higher than all else here, a mighty 168ft or as you say now 55m in height.

When you come to the top of the path, up to the circle around the tower, veer left and follow the curve. At around 9 o'clock or quarter way around the circle look for the grave of Diarmuid Ó'Donnabáin Rosa – see picture. (Waypoint 2)

It was here that Padraig Pearse gave his famous speech – and indeed it is re-enacted each day at 2.30pm if you want to hear it yourself.

“….. But the fools, the fools, the fools, they have left us our Fenian dead, and while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peace.”

This area holds the graves of so many who are known to us throughout Irish history ….. Maude Gonne McBride, Sean McBride, Kitty Kiernan, James Larkin, Erskin Childers, Harry Boland, Constance Markievicz, Cathal Brugha and so many more……..

Standing at the Republican Plot walk on to the T and turn left – again go to the end of the path to the T and then turn right. We're nearing the end of our journey today.

Keep a keen eye out around here for this is the place I regularly see the ghost of Captain Boyd's dog – he rambles these paths still looking for his master.

Follow on this path – go on straight at the cross section, where you'll pass the large monument to the Young Irelanders and The Fenian Brotherhood, with Erin go bragh standing tall on top.

At the next right turn you may notice a large monument to Mathew Cassidy and his people. It has railings around it and steps down to a vault. Keep going straight.

As you walk you may notice quite a few yew trees in this area – yew trees are common in graveyards for a few reasons –they are poisonous to animals and so they were planted to keep animals out. They can live for hundreds of years and were a symbol of immortality to the Pagans and Druids long ago.

At this area, you'll need to take your second picture needed to claim your Virtual Reward Cache. So read on to see what you must do.


Keep on straight to the next turn to the right - there's a monument to Peter Brady, it's near that corner. (If you get to the outer wall you've gone too far …. make your way back to the previous path)

Just along the path on the left-hand side, after the 3rd tree you will see a simple stone. It has a hole in it and there is usually a small figure of a man perched inside the hole with a book in his hand.

Here lies Brendan Behan. Irish poet, short story writer, novelist and playwright. Brendan was known to enjoy a drop of the black stuff too, and each year on his birthday a pint of Guinness is left on his grave. The people that run this place don't know who leaves it there each year, but I do …

Opposite Brendan on the other side of the path lie the Sheehy Skeffingtons. (2nd row back) Both very courageous and interesting characters. Francis, a well-known Irish writer and radical activist, and the real-life model for a character in James Joyce's novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Hanna, his wife was a suffragette and Irish nationalist. They had been introduced by their mutual friend Joyce and took each other's names on marriage, which was well ahead of their time. Very interesting characters that I could speak to you for more time than you have today to listen to me …..

There are quite a few of the war memorial graves around … you might notice some of them near here.

Before you go - you'll need to take the second of the two pictures needed to claim your Virtual Reward Cache – take a picture at one of the graves we're visiting here: Brendan Behan, The Sheehy Skeffingtons, one of the war graves or James Dunn (the last fellow, whom we will meet around the corner)

But I've kept you long enough this day ….. I'll show you the way out now with just one more quirky monument on the way.

Go back the way you came to the main path and turn right towards the outer wall …. Look for this monument on your right-hand side, just before the last tree

Note the name on it: James Dunn & Wife. Poor Ann didn't even get her name on.
For it seems Ann was fond of a drop of the drink and James was not too impressed. She died first and he had this monument sculpted. I'll leave you to see them depicted in all their splendour on the other side – but note the wine bottle under James foot and that is his “temperance” medal he's waving in her face. A nice man –no doubt!

I'm sure James is glad to be so near his neighbour Brendan Behan!

You're just back to where we started our walk today – can you see the wall & the old Prospect Gate ahead? Good bye now until we meet again….. maybe you'll come to join me some day……

I hope you've enjoyed this tour of Croak Park – to claim the Virtual upload your pictures taken in the graveyard today, as instructed:

2 pictures taken in the graveyard today:

1 at the graveside of either De Groot, Stoker or Skin the Goat.

1 showing the grave of Brendan Behan, The Sheehy Skeffingtons, James & Ann Dunn or any war memorial grave.

1 of these pics, at least, must show me that you have been here yourself …. If you do not wish to take it “selfie” style or feature yourself, you can instead take your gps or a thumbs up etc or some other original picture.

Logs without the required pics will be deleted without recourse or comment