Cemetery: St. Brides Parish Memorials
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Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives
Dublin Index
Copyright
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File contributed by: C. Hunt & Mary Bradley
ST. BRIDES PARISH, DUBLIN
[From the Rev. R S MAFFETT.]
'The burial-ground of this parish, which for some fifteen
years has formed part of the Union of the St. Werburgh,
contains about seventy memorials, of which I copied the
following four on the day which I visited it in October,
1900.* Mr. Carroll states that the churchyard was enlarged
by the Rev. W H Irvine (1825-1828).
On a sunk stone, rounded at the top, and broken at the upper
part of the right-hand side, which is placed against the
"west" boundary of the churchyard near its "northern"
extremity (in the strip of ground extending behind the site
of the disused church), is the following inscription in
capitals: -
[T] HIS STONE AN [-…..]
AL PLACE BELON[G-..]
TO CHRISTOPHER [….?.]
AND HIS WIFE ELIN [..]
[? RIC]E ALIAS TOOLE A [..]
THEIR POSTE [RI(no room for T)] Y HERE
LIETH [6] OF THEIR ~
CHILDREN 1701
____________________
'Affixed to the wall, not far from the centre of the same
boundary, is a tablet of white in a frame of grey, on which
is the following inscription in small leaded letters. The
memorial has an outer fram of (freestone?). There is no
surname after "Mildred." Mr. PLEASANTS was a munificent
benefactor of the parish as well as other interests. See
Ryan's "Worthies of Ireland": -
Mr. Thomas PLEASANTS by his last Will and Testament directed
that he should be buried in the same Grave with his wife
Mildred, otherwise Daunt, and that his Since the above date
the church and school building have been taken down in
connection with Lord IVEAGH'S improvement scheme for the
neighborhood, and the memorials from the graveyard placed in
St. Wesburgh's Churchyard, while the remains of those buried
at St. Brides have been removed to Mount Jerome.
Executors should have a Monument erected to her Memory, as
well as to that of her Father George Daunt: and thereby also
desired that the Grave should never more be opened; which
Monument has been erected in the Church A: D: 1819
________________
' Beneath this tablet is a limestone slab on supports
(presumably The Pleasants' tomb), with an inscription
covering the whole of the Stone; most of the upper part
seemed illegible, and I had not the time to attempt it.
_______________
'Near the south-west corner of the old vestry (which was at
the South-east corner of the church) is a flat stone to the
Rev. Richard DRURY, of whom the Rev. W G CARROLL, M.A., in
his "Succession of Clergy in S. Bride's, &c,' says:- '"
1782. Richard DRURY, B.A. 1777. Died in the curacy, which
he held for 44 years. This worthy clergyman, whose memory
still survives in the parish, was married in the church in
1807, and was buried in the churchyard in 1827. He lived in
Exchequer- street, and afterwards in Peter's-row, and in
Bride-street. The eminent and excellent Rev. Philip SKELTON
was his intimate friend, and used to dwell with him when in
Dublin. Skelton was sitting with him in the reading-desk in
St. Bride's when Dr. PECKWELL, the Huntingdonian preacher,
preached over his head there in 1783, and flung his arms
about 'like the arms of a windmill.'" Mr. Carroll goes on
to tell of the earnest but unavailing effort made In 1825 to
obtain the living of St. Bride's, then vacant, for Mr.
Drury.'
The mortal Remains
of the
Reverand RICHARD DRURY
Are deposited
underneath this Stone
which
His affectionate Parishoners
have laid upon his Grave
in Memory
of their departed Pastor
He died
beloved and respected
in the Year of our LORD 1827
and 69th of his Age
having been Curate of this Parish
during Forty four Years
'On the same line as the last stone, but nearer to the
curch, is a slab with the following inscription in small
letters, deeply cut at the beginning.
The "3" in brackets might perhaps be "5" (or Even "8")' The
Burial place of Mr. Abm WALKER | 1745 | Who Departed this
Life on the 23rd of | October 1763 Aged 63. | Also the
remains of Mrs. Agnes WALKER Widow of the said Abraham who
Departed | This Life of the 28th July 1769 | Aged 6 [3] |
Here lieth the Body of Mrs. Martha WALKER | late Wife of
Richard WALKER Esqr Nephew | Of the above named Abraham
WALKER, | She departed this life the 4th day of Feb. 1800 |
Here also lie interred the Remains of the |said Richard
WALKER Esqr Husband of | The above named Martha who departed
| This life the 25th day of October 1800 | Aged 75 years.
ST. NICHOLAS WITHIN (UNION OF ST AUDOEN).
[From the Rev. R S Maffett, B A, 1903
According to Wright's "Guide to Dublin" (1821), the Church
of St. Nicholas Within, Nicholas-street, was originally
built by Bishop Donat; this building would seem to have been
re-edified in the latter part of the sixteenth century. The
church was re-built again in 1707, and the front of this
edifice was dangerous when WRIGHT describes it. Lewis
(1887) mentions that the church had been taken down, and was
to be re- built, which latter, however, was never done, and
the parish was united to St. Audoen's in 1867. The
first-named author states that the greater part of the
graveyard was obtained by the Coporation when building the
Tholsel, so that what remained was merely a passage to the
vaults which, he adds, contained the bodies of several
persons of high descent, but their names could only be
learned from the parish registers. On my visit, in May,
1900, I had some difficulty in getting in though I had an
appointment for the purpose, owing to the key having been
lost; after a delay, however, the difficulty was overcome by
the padlock being broken. I was told that the Coropration
was not going to do anything at present with respect to the
remains of the church;* all the houses up to it, on the
south side, had, however, already been taken down in
connection with the improvement schemes. What remains of
the front of the church is the lowest story, of cut stone,
having a door at the north side, and a They are still
standing (August 1903).
Corresponding aperture, built up, at the south, with one
(arched) in the centre, much larger and also built up.
There is a derelict house (the "Verger's House"), where the
schoolmistress of the Union of St. Audoen's used to live
some years back, and which I went through, adjoining the
church to the north, and it is the strip of ground behind
this house that constitutes the graveyard. After passing
through the doorway in the church front, there is a short
passage or walk, and a flight of steps, the space to the
south being earth. The rest of the site is covered with the
flags in the form of a centre can only be a few feet
(perhaps three or four) higher than the level of the top
step. There seemed flat masonry under the roofing at some
parts at least. The wall of the church, towards the base of
which the north side of the roofing slopes down, shows four
round-headed windows, cut stone forming the arches on the
house (which also opens into the churchyard), is a door to
the burial ground. In the wall at the east end of the
roofed space, near its northern extremity, is the upper part
of what I took to be a doorway – built up – appearing above
the slope of the roof, with the form of an arch above a
flat-cut stone, the jambs being also of cut stone. The
ground on the other side of the wall belongs to Messrs. T
HENSHAW & Co. I could see no entrance to the space below
the roofing. The Rev. C T McCREADY, D D, however, tells me
that he once penetrated beneath this roofing into the
vaults, but saw nothing but coffins and slime and
coffin-plates recording names of no one of interest." The
Parochial Registers, he adds, give the names of all persons
buried there after 1670. I am also indebted to him for
kindly referring me to a series of articles in the "Irish
Builder" of 1889, in connection with which, he informed me,
some inscriptions taken by him appeared †. This series
seems of a very valuable character, and is continued during
the year 1890, reproducing the entries of the parish
registers with other matter. These following inscriptions,
with some particulars not given in the latter, but without
stating the age of Edward THORTON. One of the earlier
articles reproduces from the "Gentleman's Magazine," a view
of the front of the Church of Nicholas Within. This
engraving, to be found on Plate II of the May number of the
Magazine for
I was most civilly shown by Mr. KEOGH (who has been, I
believe, for some half-century in their employment) the part
of the wall inside the shop which, he said, corresponded
with the part I described. Here there is a recess boarded
up in the wall, which is fronted by shelving; the recess,
however, is some distance from the ground and has a flat
stone at the bottom, which he said once came upon a vault
full of fine mould on the premises.
† These inscriptions I could not find in the "Builder."
Picture of: The Earl of Corks Monument in St. Patrick's
Cathedral, Dublin Erected during his lifetime in 1631
1786, opposite page 375, shows that there was then a wall where the "Verger's
House" now stands.
'Projecting from the inside of the north wall of what was
originally the church, to the east of the last window, there
is a tablet of white marble, 13 inches high by 19 in length,
within a frame of grayish stone, now quite sofe, of about 2
inches in width. The inscription, in small letters is
plain; but most of the marble has a grayish incrustation
over it':-
Here Lieth the Body | of Edward TORTON Esq | Who
Departed this | Life Augt ye 21 1762 | aged 69
______
'The only other inscription in this church or graveyard
appears to be that given below, which is on a stone in the
graveyard leaning against another larger one close to the
north wall of the church, a little west of the last window
but one. This larger stone might, however, have carving on
the side resting against the church wall. The first two
words were the only portion of the inscription above the
ground. The stone under "Friend" is apparently broker, but
not so under the first part of this line; if, however, there
is anything more on the memorial, it must be after a larger
intervening space than that between the last two lines
given. The lettering is in good preservation':-
Here lieth the Body of Mr. Thomas | KING who Departed this
life on | the 15th July 1771, aged 39 Years | He was a Good
Christian | And a Sincere Friend.
__________________
'There is a fourth stone, broken at the top, standing out in
the graveyard near the second of the four windows, which
might have an inscription. It is not more than a few inches
above the ground, and I only examined it some six inches
beneath the surface.
___________________
Source
Journal of the Association for the Preservation of the
Memorials of the Dead in Ireland Vo. 6. 1904, (FHL #
0258795)