Survey Data
Reg No
50130352
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Social, Technical
Original Use
Gates/railings/walls
In Use As
Gates/railings/walls
Date
1830 - 1835
Coordinates
315048, 236856
Date Recorded
--/--/--
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Quadrant gate screen, built c. 1832, located at east entrance to Glasnevin Cemetery, comprising granite triumphal arch with cornice, blocking course, moulded imposts, having rusticated walling below imposts and ashlar walling above, keystoned archivolt, frieze inscribed 'Beati Mortui Qui in Domino Moriuntur' ('Blessed are the Dead who die in the Lord'), and limestone cross finial with ball base on plinth; decorative double-leaf cast-iron gate and railings on rendered plinth wall; double-height rendered screen wall to north and south sides, latter being east elevation of associated gate lodge and former being part of adjoining public house. Flagged entrance.
Appraisal
A neatly-proportioned neo-Classical gate screen with attached gate lodge, built to designs by cemetery architect Patrick Byrne and accepted by the Cemetery Committee on 14th November 1831. The composition of triumphal arch gateway, gates and railings is finely balanced with a screen wall to the north that echoes the proportions of the gate lodge/sexton's house. This is all that remains of Byrne's original group of structures that included a temple and original mortuary chapel. It marks the original entrance to the garden section of Glasnevin (formerly Prospect) Cemetery, one of the oldest parts of the cemetery, which opened in 1832 as Ireland's first non-denominational cemetery following a successful campaign by Daniel O'Connell. Originally the main avenue led from this entrance to the boundary wall on a central axis. As the cemetery developed from the original nine acres to 124 acres, the locus of activity moved westwards and a new entrance from the Finglas Road superseded the Prospect Square entrance by the 1870s, resulting in a relatively unchanged aspect in this quiet corner of the historic cemetery.