Survey Data
Reg No
50130097
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Social
Original Use
Grave monument
In Use As
Grave monument
Date
1865 - 1875
Coordinates
314893, 236902
Date Recorded
12/06/2018
Date Updated
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Description
Freestanding three-stage Gothic Revival funerary monument over vault, erected c. 1870. Lowest stage has rectangular base and battered plinth with shallow relief cusped and geometric banding. Gableted second stage having raked crocketed cornice, studded quatrefoils to pedestal, spandrels and apexes, pointed-arch recesses to each elevation, each having marble panel with roundel bearing cross and with inscription to west, corner piers with stiff-leaf capitals and engaged polished pink granite half-shafts, moulded archivolts having carved foliate banding. Third stage comprises octagonal-plan pinnacle on octagonal base having cusped and crocketed arcaded lantern with cusped gablets and supported by pink granite columns; and with wrought-iron cross final. Vault entrance to west side accessed by flight of stone steps, with limestone slab over vault. Wrought-iron railings, having tendrils and leaves. Located on corner plot at east side of Glasnevin Cemetery.
Appraisal
A finely-crafted funerary monument in an exuberant High Gothic style, erected in memory of the Cassidy family. The monument was executed to designs by Charles Geoghegan, architect and engineer, by Fitzpatrick & Molloy of Glasnevin. It is liberally adorned with crockets, gablets and foliate carved detailing, in a contrasting palette of limestone, pink granite and white marble. Prominently located on a corner plot on the main east-west axis of the cemetery, this monument is conceived in both design and position to reflect status and social standing. It is among a number of notable monuments of architectural and artistic merit within the cemetery. Originally known as Prospect Cemetery, the burial ground was opened in 1832 following a successful campaign by Daniel O'Connell to establish a civic, non-denominational cemetery. It holds the graves and memorials of over one million people, including many notable citizens.