St. Finbarr's Cemetery () in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, is the city's largest and one of the oldest

cemeteries A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

in Ireland which is still in use. Located on the Glasheen Road, it was first opened in the 1860s. The entrance gateway was erected circa 1865, and the

mortuary chapel A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...

consecrated in 1867. Many of the early

burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

s were of the wealthy citizens of the city. Unlike older cemeteries, St. Finbarr's was professionally laid out with numbered pathways and wide avenues.

Burials

Among those buried at St. Finbarr's Cemetery are hurler and

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Jack Lynch John Mary Lynch (15 August 1917 – 20 October 1999) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1966 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1966 to 1979, Leader of the Opposition from 1973 to 1977, Minister ...

; the sculptor

Seamus Murphy Seamus Murphy, (15 July 1907 – 2 October 1975) was an Irish sculptor and stone carver, best known for designing the Church of the Annunciation, Blackpool, Cork. Examples of his unique carvings of statues, gravestones, monuments and plaques ca ...

, the antiquarian Richard Rolt Brash who was among the first to decipher writing in the ancient Ogham writing style; the English composer Sir

Arnold Bax Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, (8 November 1883 – 3 October 1953) was an English composer, poet, and author. His prolific output includes songs, choral music, chamber pieces, and solo piano works, but he is best known for his orchestral musi ...

; and Cork's first Lord Mayor Daniel Hegarty. St. Finbarr's contains one of the largest burial plots of Irish Republicans who died during the 1920s. There are also more recent burials of members of the

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

and the

Official IRA The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (OIRA; ) was an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a "workers' republic" encompassing all of Ireland. It emerged ...

. This is known as the Cork Republican Plot, and among those buried there are former Lords Mayor of Cork

Terence McSwiney Terence James MacSwiney (; ga, Toirdhealbhach Mac Suibhne; 28 March 1879 – 25 October 1920) was an Irish playwright, author and politician. He was elected as Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork during the Irish War of Independence in 1920. He ...

and

Tomás Mac Curtain Tomás Mac Curtain (20 March 1884 – 20 March 1920) was an Irish Sinn Féin politician who served as the Lord Mayor of Cork until he was assassinated by the Royal Irish Constabulary. He was elected in January 1920. Background Tomás Mac Curt ...

, hunger striker Joseph Murphy. In the early hours of 17 March 1963, in protest at the unveiling later that day of a monument in the Republican Plot by President

Eamonn De Valera Eamonn or Éamon or Eamon may refer to: *Eamonn (given name), an Irish male given name *Eamon (singer) (born 1983), American R&B singer-songwriter and harmonicist * ''Eamon'' (video game), a 1980 computer role-playing game for the Apple II *"Éamon ...

, IRA volunteers Desmond Swanton and Jeremiah Madden attempted to blow up the monument. However, during this attempt there was an explosion which killed Swanton and severely injured Madden (who lost an eye and a leg). Other republicans who are buried at St. Finbarr's, but not in the Republican Plot, include

Flying Column A flying column is a small, independent, military land unit capable of rapid mobility and usually composed of all arms. It is often an ''ad hoc'' unit, formed during the course of operations. The term is usually, though not necessarily, appli ...

leader Tom Barry, government minister

J. J. Walsh James Joseph Walsh (20 February 1880 – 3 February 1948), generally referred to as J. J. Walsh, was Postmaster General, (later Minister for Posts and Telegraphs) of the Irish Free State from 1923 to 1927. He was also a senior Gaelic Athletic A ...

and

Dan "Sandow" O'Donovan Daniel "Sandow" O'Donovan (1890, in Cork (city) – 31 July 1975, in Mallow, County Cork, Ireland), was a leading member of the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence. Early life Dan O'Donovan was an early recruit to the Iris ...

. Commemorations of the

1916 Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

are held annually at the Republican Plot on Easter Sunday by various groups including

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian- ...

, the Workers' Party and

Republican Sinn Féin Republican Sinn Féin or RSF ( ga, Sinn Féin Poblachtach) is an Irish republican political party in Ireland. RSF claims to be heirs of the Sinn Féin party founded in 1905 and took its present form in 1986 following a split in Sinn Féin. RS ...

. The "musicians' corner" contains the graves of

Aloys Fleischmann (Senior) Aloys Georg Fleischmann (24 April 1880 – 3 January 1964) was a German composer, cathedral organist and choirmaster. Life Fleischmann was born in Dachau, Bavaria, Dachau, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire. He was the only child of the Dachau s ...

and

Aloys Fleischmann Aloys Fleischmann (13 April 1910 – 21 July 1992) was an Irish composer, musicologist, professor and conductor. Life Fleischmann was born in Munich to Ireland-based German parents. Both were musicians, both graduates of the Royal Academy of Mu ...

, and the composer

. It also contains a mass grave containing the remains of 72 women who died at St. Vincent's

Magdalene Laundry Magdalene asylums, also known as Magdalene laundries, were initially Protestant but later mostly Roman Catholic institutions that operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries, ostensibly to house " fallen women". The term referred to fema ...

on Peacock Lane in Cork. A family of an identified woman buried in this grave have called for the site to be investigated.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Cork City Archives – Online Digital Collections – St.Finbarr's Cemetery Cork City Burial Register 1867–1896
Roman Catholic cemeteries in the Republic of Ireland Religion in County Cork Roman Catholic Diocese of Cork and Ross