Survey Data

Reg No

50080400


Rating

Regional


Categories of Special Interest

Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social


Previous Name

Saint Vincent's Convent


Original Use

Graveyard/cemetery


In Use As

Graveyard/cemetery


Date

1880 - 1985


Coordinates

311876, 232988


Date Recorded

14/06/2013


Date Updated

--/--/--


Description

Enclosed L-plan graveyard, consisting of rectangular-plan graveyard, opened 1884, with rectangular-plan addition to north, opened 1985, having c.300 rectangular limestone headstones containing c.450 burials. Carved limestone high cross on stepped plinth to centre of early graveyard. Single-bay chapel to east end of early graveyard, having pitched slate roof with carved granite coping and cross finial. Snecked rock-faced rusticated limestone walls, having carved granite cross to front (west) gable, cut limestone stepped buttresses to each elevation over rusticated limestone plinth. Full-height pointed arch opening to east and west gables, having carved granite voussoirs and hood mouldings. Wrought-iron double-leaf gates to east opening, blocked c.1990. Pointed arch door openings having carved granite surrounds to north and south elevations. Life-size Calvary group to west end of later graveyard. Limestone boundary wall, limestone plinth wall between old and new graveyard, and to north boundary of later graveyard, with recent railings. Pointed arch gate opening to north wall, allowing access from Mercy Secondary School, having carved granite surround and wrought-iron gate.

Appraisal

This cemetery forms part of a religious complex associated with Saint Vincent’s Church and convent. The Sisters of Mercy opened a convict rehabilitation centre for women at Goldenbridge in 1856 to the north-east, and established a church, convent, national school and commercial laundry. The cemetery has been used exclusively for the burial of members of the Sisters of Mercy community from 1884, and continues to serve this function. The cemetery appears as a rectangular-plan ‘Burial Ground’ on the 1907 Ordnance Survey map and on the fourth edition Ordnance Survey map c.1935. Two paths are shown on the later OS map, from the former industrial schools to the north and east, entering via a carved granite gate opening, and from the chapel. The chapel entrance with double-leaf wrought-iron gates, was blocked c.1990 with the construction of Emmet Court apartment complex to the immediate east. The graveyard is enhanced by attractive landscaping and placement of religious iconography in the landscape, such as the figurative scene to the west. There are approximately three hundred identical limestone headstones which give the cemetery an ordered appearance. The cemetery is in active use and remains a significant part of the social fabric of the area, and is a reminder of the social and historical role of the Sisters of Mercy in the area.