Established c. 1300 Country Republic of Ireland Size 1,730 m (0.427 acres) | Closed 1886 Type Church of Ireland | |
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Location Bellevue Avenue, Booterstown, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown | ||
Merrion Cemetery, Bellevue (Irish: Reilig Mhuirfean) is a cemetery located off the Merrion Road in Dublin, Ireland. It is located adjacent to the "Tara Towers" hotel near Booterstown. The cemetery was in use from 1300 to 1866. Since 1978 it has been used as a public park under the care of Dublin City Council
History
It is not known when the graveyard was consecrated, but there used to be a church here and thought to have been erected in the 14th century by John Cruise of Merrion Castle. There are no remains of the church today.
The most notable burial here is of the 120 soldiers of the transport packet called the Prince of Wales. The ship had set sail from Kingstown on 18 November 1807, but by the next day it had to return due to a very bad snow storm. As the ship tried to return to the harbour, it struck rocks at Seapoint and sank drowning all 120 soldiers on board, who were members of the 18th Regiment of Foot. That same night the Rochdale also sank where 265 people perished. Most of them are interred in Carrickbrennan Churchyard with a similar memorial.
There are not many memorials to be seen here and the oldest one is dated 1692.
On 1 May 1866 the graveyard closed and in 1978 the graveyard became a public park under the care of Dublin City Council.