Mount Jerome Cemetery (Harold's Cross, Dublin)

In all fairness one has to add that the picturesque (and inevitable) decay of the cemetery requires some extra care from the visitor. I would not recommend leaning against any monuments, judging from some spectacular collapses you might raise some dust by doing so. And watch your step - monuments, enclosures and sinkholes conspire to provide a twisted ankle as a lasting memento of your visit.

Apart from this the cemetery is safe, there are no dark corners to avoid. Only make sure to mind the time, the cemetery gates are closed and locked at 4 pm sharp. Escape over the walls looks next to impossible ...

So why should you visit? Basically because Mount Jerome is favorably compared to Pere-Lachaise in Paris and Highgate in London, being one of the most splendid 19th century cemeteries of Europe. It has some prominent persons interred, but the funerary architecture and statuary is the main attraction. Conservative family vaults, some serviced by sunken roads, compete with Egyptian-style tombs. And amongst dozens of angels clutching all sorts of paraphernalia you will also find a dog pining for its dead master. A dog carved from stone ... but you might encounter the odd live fox loping leisurely through the rows of gravestones.

Important gravesites include those of

• SirWilliam Wilde,
• Thomas Davis,
• Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu,
• John Millington Symge,
• Æ (George Russell),
• Jack B. Yeats,
• Sir William Rowan Hamilton and
• George Petrie.

Mount Jerome is off the beaten track and definitely not on the main tourist route. But it is fairly easy to get to from Dublin's city center by bus. And a café in the cemetery grounds even provides some refreshments ...