QUAKER BURIAL GROUND CORK STREET Dublin 8 HOW TO RESTORE, COMMEMORATE, AND CELEBRATE A HISTORIC PLACE, A PART OF OUR CULTURAL HERITAGE: SUMMARY “It is a peaceable place to visit”

1. QUAKER BURIAL GROUND CORK STREET
HOW TO RESTORE,COMMEMORATE,AND CELEBRATEA HISTORIC
PLACE, A PART OF OUR CULTURAL HERITAGE: SUMMARY
“It is a peaceable place to visit”
1. INTRODUCTION
2. BUILDING AWARENESS
3. BUILDING SUPPORT
4. RESTORATION
5. HISTORIC ENVIRONS
6. QUAKERS AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN THE LIBERTIES
7. DIVERSITY, MIGRATION, AND AMERICAN COLONIES
KIERAN ROSE
November 2019

3. “It is a peaceable place to visit”1
8. INTRODUCTION
The Quaker Burial Ground dates from 1698, it was bequeathed by Roger Roberts, a Quaker
Innkeeper of Dolphins Barn Lane. It was enclosed by a 9ft high wall. 120 trees were planted in
the Burial Ground in 1703. A Quaker Alms House was erected on the adjoining site to the west
in 1727.
The first Quaker Burial Ground was on Stephens Green where the RCSI is now. The bodies
buried there were transferred to Cork Street. Ongoing research by Roy Pearson on Quaker
records identifies that more than 4,700 bodies are buried in Cork Street and the names and
addresses are available which makes for a fascinating historical resource.
In the 18th century the Society of Friends acquired many loads of soil from the Grand Canal
Company, when it was constructing the circular line through Dolphin's Barn, and they used this
to raise the ground level to increase the lifespan of the burial ground, allowing a fresh layer of
burials over the original ones (Rob Goodbody).
By 1859 a two storey dwelling for the burial ground gate keeper with a hearse house attached
had been built in the front garden of the Alms House. According to the Dictionary of Irish
Architects, Samuel Taylor “on completing his apprenticeship in 1821, he walked to Dublin, where his
first job was as night watchman at the Friends Burial Ground in Cork Street."
Quaker historian Rob Goodbody in the Dublin Inquirer article describes the Liberties in the C17
“as the heart of the Quaker community in Dublin at the time.”
Writing of Anthony Sharp, a Quaker merchant in the Liberties, Olive Goodbody sets out the
following: “The story to be told is a small bit of forgotten history of Dublin during the late
seventeenth century a fascinating period, rich in post-revolutionary drama, in schemes for
rebuilding and restoration, rich in the budding of scientific thought and the advancement of
learning, ………..” Anthony Sharp,Wool Merchant, 1643-1707 and the Quaker Community in
Dublin https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/goodbody?projector=1
Niall Mc Cullough writes that the Liberties “grew to full maturity in a very short time in the late
17C/18C. The Quaker Burial Ground is part of this wider urban history.
Marsh's Library has a very significant Quaker collection including a Quaker “Abstract of Wills”
which includes addresses showing how many Quakers lived in the Liberties, and gives
1
From booklet on Temple Hill Burial Ground, published in association with DLR County Council and
others, 2018

4. occupations such as baker, merchant, weaver, maulster, shopkeeper, brewer, bookseller,
potter, along with names of inns such as “The Sign of the Golden Ball” and “The Sign of the
Black Lyon”. (This is an on-line version https://www.failteromhat.com/quaker/quakerindex.php)
The Burial Ground now is in a very dilapidated state with surface car parking on what are
graves, boundary walls crumbling, railings decaying, portacabins, dumpsters etc strewn about. It
is owned by the HSE.
"Graveyards dating from pre-1700 A.D. are given statutory protection under the National
Monuments Act 1930-2004.” (Heritage Council)
“It is a peaceable place to visit” is how the Temple Hill Burial Ground is described in the 2018
publication; Cork Street could be like this if it was properly restored and made more publicly
accessible.
9. BUILDING AWARENESS
One of the problems for the Burial Ground is that few people know its there and so one of the
objectives is to raise awareness of this very historic place through the media etc. Dublin Inquirer
published a good article in March 2019. Olivia Kelly did two articles for the Irish Times and were
followed up by two letters (one by Seamus Dooley and the other by myself). Stephen Coyne
published an article on the Burial Ground the Liberties Dublin website
https://libertiesdublin.ie/cork-streets-quaker-burial-ground/
A very well attended Liberties Cultural Association walking tour of Cork Street included the
Quaker Burial Ground and other historic properties along the street on 15th September 2019.
This was a way of remembering and commemorating this largely forgotten part of our cultural
heritage, as Richard Mac Cormac puts it:
“events memorialise places and give them significance that adds to and even refines
their original meaning”.
For the first time Bru Chaoimhin was to be included in this year's Open House which will raise
public awareness of this interesting collection of heritage buildings and spaces. Hopefully the
Quaker Burial Ground and its environs can be included in future Festival of History, Heritage
Week, Culture Night, Liberties Festival, and Culture 8 programmes.
Because the Burial Ground is a hidden part of the City's cultural heritage, Rob Goodbody in his
report to the HSE recommends that a sign be erected and that: “The text of the sign board
should set out briefly and succinctly the background to the Quaker community in Dublin, the
period of use of the burial ground, the tradition relating to the use of grave markers and the
estimates of the numbers buried on the site. Some mention could be made of some of the
better-known families who were buried on the site.” This sign should be put up immediately.

5. An article by Roy Pearson and Christopher Moriarty was published in the Quaker publication
“The Friendly Word”, September/October 2019 edition, see link below. “On the sale of
Stephen’s Green burial ground (1674) to the College of Surgeons in 1805 the remains there
were exhumed and re-interred in Cork Street.” They conclude that the total number of burials in
Cork Street burial ground, as being 4,721. ttps://libertiesdublin.ie/dublin-burial-grounds-of-the-
society-of-friends/?fbclid=IwAR3J7PsdtNNNGozO8Sg6aXvSanyDeDZj5LUzDvVG5NT5JCmY-
5lAshP2kvs
I gave a talk at the Warrenmount Community Education Centre in October.
“Quaker cemetery in danger” was the headline for a short report in History Ireland
November/December edition
There is a very fine 2018 publication on Temple Hill Quaker Burial Ground (see image below). It
would be great to get a similar publication done for Cork Street. “It is a peaceable place to visit”
is how they describe Temple Hill; Cork Street could be like this if it was properly restored and
made more publicly accessible. The Temple Hill booklet (2018) was produced in association
with the Quaker community, DLR County Council, A Sound Map of Dun Laoighre, and Farpoint
Recordings
10. BUILDING SUPPORT
Councillors, TDs, Senators, Ed Brophy and many others have been encouraging the HSE to
carry out conservation-based improvements to the Burial Ground. A four page report by the City
Council was sent to Councillors summarising the history of the Burial Ground and including
recommendations that the HSE do further genealogical research and into the history of the
Quakers in the Liberties, Dublin and nationally.
A 2019 report, “Survey and Maintenance Plan ”https://www.slideshare.net/kieranrose/cork-
street-burialgroundreport2019, by Rob Goodbody commissioned by HSE in association with the
National Monuments Service documented the history and very dilapidated state of boundary
walls, railings etc. The report was circulated to Councillors and others.
11. RESTORATION
According to Olivia Kelly in the Irish Times the HSE are to vacate the Weir Home later this year
and the PMVT are to convert the Weir Home (a Protected Structure) into apartments, the
conservation of this historic building is to be welcomed. Hopefully the restoration of the Burial
Ground will go ahead soon. This restoration should include:
- the removal of the surface car parking and the reinstatement of the grassed Burial Ground
area (the idea of having car parking on graves is bizarre)
- the removal of the portakabins and other recently installed structures, as well as the dumpsters

6. - the repair of the boundary walls and railings
And as regards a planning application for the conversion of the Weir Home into apartments;
- the site boundary of the application should be confined to the footprint of the Weir Home i.e.
there should be no splitting up of the historic Burial ground into different ownerships/uses
- the storage of waste should take place within the envelope of the Weir Home, I don't think it
would be acceptable to have waste containers stored on the Burial Ground.
- the Burial Ground should not be used for the storage of materials etc during the conversion of
the Weir Home
Conservation led improvement schemes for St Lukes and St James burial
Grounds, and St Catherines Park in the Liberties are models of good practice.
12. HISTORIC ENVIRONS
Margaret Donnelly sold a 3 acre orchard in early 1800s on which the Fever Hospital was later
built. “In 1801, 15 Trustees were named at the Royal Exchange for the new [Fever] hospital. These
included Samuel Bewley, William and Thomas Disney, Arthur Guinness Jr, and John David La
Touche.”
A Donnellys bacon factory was established on South Brown Street in 1829 with other bacon
factories along Brickfield Lane. The two Donnelly factories were diagonally opposite the Quaker
Burial Ground, demolished in 2019 and student accommodation is now under construction.
The Quaker Burial Ground, Weir Home (1903), Bru Chaoimhin (c1800), Spences Engineering
Works (1856), Marion Villas (C1900s), and Donnellys/Student accommodation sites are an
interesting historical and urban design ensemble, and are at the heart of Cork Street. Rob
Goodbody and Douglas Carson make the case the 1 and 2 Marion Villas are possibly the 1727
Quaker Alms House.
Immediately adjoining the Quaker Alms House "though unnamed on the map, was a widows
asylum set up by David Latouche, one of the fifteen trustees and one who contributed
generously to the establishment of the hospital" From IHTA publication 1847 OS map
13. QUAKERS AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN THE LIBERTIES
A study of the role of the Quakers in the urban development of the Liberties would be very
interesting. For example, Fumbally Lane was laid out in 1721 by Jacob Poole, a Quaker, to link
his lands at Blackpitts with New Street, see Peter Pearson "The Heart of Dublin". Jacob Poole
and Samuel Taylor had brewing interests in Blackpitts and Marrowbone Lane. Peter Pearson
quotes Rachel Mac Rory’s thesis on 12 Fumbally Lane (c1720s) and that Jacob Poole and
Samuel Taylor might have built it.

7. “In 1684 a large Meeting House at Meath Place was erected to replace the earlier one at
Wormwood Gate, which had become too small”.
The Joseph Fade mansion on Thomas Street (see NIAH), was Frawleys and is now beautifully
restored as part of student accomodation:
"Built around 1715 by the famous Quaker banker Joseph Fade (who bankrolled much of the
development of early Georgian Dublin), the magnificent mansion was likely one of the finest
houses in the city when constructed," see https://libertiesdublin.ie/thomas-street-a-terrace-
reborn/
Anthony Sharp, born in Gloucestershire in 1643 before moving to this country in 1669 to escape
religious persecution in England. He settled in Dublin where he became involved in the wool
trade and quickly gained success: by 1680 he employed some 500 workers in the Liberties and
eight years later the Weavers’ Guild elected him Master; he also became an Alderman of
Dublin. He owned extensive properties in the Liberties at Meath Street, Coles Alley (now Meath
Place), Elbow Lane, Marrowbone Lane, Pimlici, the Coombe: as well as Roundwood Estate Co
Laois,and in the American colonies and these are listed in his Will.
Newmarket (1674) was for the sale of raw wool, ‘Sheep Penns’ were to line both sides of Wards
Hill. George and James Edkins were key developers according to Christine Casey.
According to Peter Keenahan Samuel Braithwaite was a leading Quaker and he developed
Poole St (1728) and Braithwaite St (1768) with Jacob Poole. “They were both 'cloathiers' by
trade but also serious property developers. Most of the Quaker community in the Liberties was
concentrated in Meath St where they built their meeting house. Between them, Strettle, Sharp,
the Bikers etc built at least half of the west side of Meath St and part of the east side. The back
lanes here were full of their workers. There were at least 25 Quakers who either lived on or
owned houses on Meath Street in the 1690 - 1730 period. We have all their names and which
houses they owned/lived in, including Samuel Fuller, who left '£5 towards building a meeting
house in part of the burying ground at Cork Street' in 1735. The Quakers, the Huguenots and
the several other Dissenter groups played a significant part in the Dutch Billy tradition in Dublin.”
“Samuel Fuller was a bookseller, teacher and printer, who also kept a weather diary which Rutty
referred to in his own work. Fuller was based at the sign of the Globe and Scales in Meath
street during the period 1720 to 1736. After his death his wife took over the print shop and
bookshop. Fuller was a Quaker and his will shows the range of material held in Dublin
bookshops at the time. He printed John Knapp’s almanack for 1728 but his main output was
Quaker theology, mathematics and chapbooks. Samuel Fuller, like Rutty, demonstrates the
important contribution the Quaker community made to the intellectual life of Dublin during this
period, especially in terms of scientific activity.”
http://www.dublincity.ie/image/libraries/wea24-quakers-fuller

8. School on School Street 1786, The school was funded by Guinness, La Touche and Bewley
families, all of whom would soon establish the Kildare Place Society in 1811.
see Niall McCullough "Dublin: An Urban History" and
"Quaker Schools in Dublin by M. Quane
https://www.jstor.org/stable/25509549?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
Pim Street laid out by John Pim, a Quaker, and merchant of Pim and Goodbody in 1813.
Former Liberty Creche at 91-92 Meath Street (1826) according to NIAH: “This substantial
building was originally built to house the Sick Poor Association (a Quaker organisation) and the
Dorset Nourishment Dispensary, which were established in 1794 and 1816 respectively, to care
for the poor and convalescent of the Liberties, with a central carriage arch dividing the building
into two individual premises. The Liberty Crèche was opened here in 1893, to provide childcare
for working mothers, most of whom were street traders on Thomas Street. It is of considerable
social interest as an early childcare facility which allowed women to remain in employment, as
well as due to its earlier function as a philanthropic institution.” Constructed as part of a Wide
Street Commissioners improvement scheme, it is described by the Dublin Civic Trust as “one of
the most attractive buildings in the area (“Meath Street and Francis Street, Graham Hickey,
2008)
According to Rob Goodbody, the Quakers owned significant property on Cork Street, the
income was used for charitable purposes, these were sold to the City Council for road widening
purposes.
14. DIVERSITY, MIGRATION, AND AMERICAN COLONIES
The Quakers are part of the diverse heritage of the Liberties, other religious groups connected
to the Liberties include Huguenots, Moravians, Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, Church of
Ireland. The Liberties was a place of immigration with Quakers coming from England,
Huguenots from France and so on. Significant numbers of Quakers went on to emigrate to the
American colonies.
Anthony Sharp was one of the original shareholders of West New Jersey in 1677. Subsequently,
when William Penn purchased land in East Jersey, Sharp also became an owner of property there
as well. Not wishing to emigrate himself due to his successful woolen business, Sharp remained in
Dublin. Anthony Sharp financed the Quaker colony established in New Jersey in 1681.
[7]
Among
those appointed to found the colony was Anthony's nephew, Thomas Sharp,
[8]
with whom he
corresponded on both business and personal
matters.
[9]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Sharp_(Quaker)#cite_note-9
The following is a Motion put to the Planning and property Development Strategic Policy
Committee in 2019
“Motion: Quaker burial ground Cork Street, Dublin 8

9. This Committee requests a Report from the Manager on how DCC is engaging with
the HSE and the Department of Heritage and Culture to recognize and enhance the
great historic value of these sites. (This is a hugely important historic burial ground, it
dates from the 1690s. It is currently neglected and dilapidated as you can see from
attached photo. It is owned by the HSE, as is the Weir Home adjoining a Protected
Structure and on the NIAH. Is it possible to engage with the HSE to get conservation
led improvements to the burial ground, and carry out a study of its historic
importance, who is buried there, etc.? The latter would be a significant contribution to
Liberties and indeed national history, including on religious diversity, minorities,
immigration, urban development and industrial initiatives. There are links between the
Dublin Quaker community at that time with America so there is an international
dimension. Conservation led improvement schemes for St Lukes and St James burial
grounds in the Liberties are a model.)”