Harold's Cross Cemetery, or more precise the Mount Jerome Cemetery in Harold's Cross, is one of Dublin's finest burial grounds. Founded in 1834 and opened in 1836 for funerals according to any rite it was a contemporary of Glasnevin Cemetery - but with a certain sectarian twist. Both cemeteries were open to anybody, yet no Catholic burials were recorded in Harold's Cross until the 1920s. And then only because the gravediggers at Glasnevin went on strike!
On the other hand Harold's Cross was the last resting place of choice for affluent Victorians from Dublin's Southside. Which led to a cornucopia of statuary, decorated vaults and final assertions of power, weslth and influence. Harold's Cross Cemetery has been compared to Pere-Lachaise in Paris and Highgate Cemetery in London ... quite rightly so. Go and have a stroll (but always remember that the gates close at 4 pm sharp).
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