St. Michael's Cemetery is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

cemetery in Toronto, Canada. It is located just southwest of

Yonge Street Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. Once the southernmost leg of provincial Hi ...

and St. Clair Avenue. The cemetery is invisible from the street, being located in the middle of a city block and ringed by homes and stores. It is accessible only through a small alleyway between two stores on Yonge Street. The gates to the cemetery are also usually kept locked.

History

The city's oldest surviving Catholic cemetery, it opened in 1855. It replaced St. Paul's Cemetery at Queen and Parliament, which had been filled to capacity by the recent influx of Irish Catholic settlers. Some 29,000 people are buried at St. Michael's. It is the final resting place mostly for working-class Irish Canadians. St. Michael's remained the only Catholic cemetery in Toronto until 1900 when it was near capacity, and the Mount Hope Cemetery was opened. One of the most notable features of the cemetery is the octagonal mortuary vault designed by

Joseph Sheard Joseph Sheard (11 October 1813 – 30 August 1883) was an English architect and politician. He was Mayor of Toronto from 1871 to 1872. Born in Hornsea, near Hull, Yorkshire, England, his father died when he was only six weeks old, leaving four yo ...

, who later became mayor of Toronto.

Notable interments

Some notable figures are interred there including brewer

Eugene O'Keefe Eugene O'Keefe (10 December 1827 – 1 October 1913), baptized as Owen Keeffe, was an Irish-born Canadian businessman and philanthropist, well-known in the brewing industry for his signature brews. He incorporated the O'Keefe Brewery Company ...

and

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

recipient

Denis Dempsey Denis Dempsey (1826 – 10 January 1896) was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Details He was appro ...

. The cemetery contains the graves of seven Canadian servicemen of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, which are registered by the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

.
CWGC Cemetery Report. Breakdown obtained from casualty record.

References

* Baglole, Joel. "Neighbours distraught after cemetery damaged." ''Toronto Star.'' Toronto, Ont.: Jul 10, 1998. p. 1 * Hurst, Lynda. "History speaks from the grave." ''Toronto Star.'' Toronto, Ont.: May 29, 1998. p. 1
Archdiocese of Toronto – The History of St. Michael's Cemetery
{{coord, 43.686074, N, 79.396109, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title Cemeteries in Toronto Roman Catholic cemeteries in Canada 1855 establishments in Canada West Cemeteries established in the 1850s