Seandálaíocht - Irish for Archaeology

A new blog has been launched inviting feedback on the future of St James's Graveyard, Dublin 8. The graveyard dates back to a little after the Norman invasion of Ireland in the twelfth century but went out of use in the twentieth century. The land is to be transferred to Dublin City Council and, laudably, they are consulting the wider public about how the space should be treated.

There are a number of old graveyards dotted around Dublin city which can easily be missed. Two better known ones include the Huguenot Cemetery off St Stephen's Green and the old graveyard beside Donnybrook Garda Station. These are little-used spaces, relatively inaccessible to the public, but they do preserve a certain solitude and dignity which can sometimes be lost when graveyards fall out of use. 

Wolf Tone Square, formerly the graveyard of St Mary's church on the corner of Jervis Street and Mary Street is a case in point. After the graveyard's decline in the twentieth century its gravestones were removed and piled, rather forlornly, against the wall at the south end, where they remain today apart from a fe set into the ground. Recent redevelopment of the graveyard as a public square has been less than successful. A bland, non-interactive design combining with its use as a drinking spot to make it a non-destination for Dubliners even during the day. 

Its difficult to know what to do with cemeteries when they go out of use, modern sensibilities cringe at the thought of 'walking on graves' although our ancestors had no such qualms, often holding markets and fairs on what was often a very convenient open space. I'm not sure what should be done with St James's graveyard but i hope the solution is neither as bland as  Wolfe Tone Square nor as inaccessible as the Huguenot Cemetery. 

A blend of modern use with a respect for the past is usually the best approach. Graveyards are always fascinating and often very tranquil places, maybe preserving these two assets should be the main goal of the Council when planning for the future of St James's graveyard. 

I just got news of a major update to the archaeology.ie national monuments database. Some 55,000 summary descriptions of sites have been transferred from the published surveys and inventories and are now accessible online through a map-based interface. This is a great, if often not reliable, resource and apparently there is a major update, presumably similar to the OSI mapping interface coming early next year.

All they need to do now is get publishing that grey literature alongside all the summary descriptions. Click Read More for full details.