drimnagh

GOLDENBRIDGE WALK [ALONG THE GRAND CANAL DRIMNAGH-INCHICORE]

Previously someone commented that it is Golden Bridge rather than Goldenbridge but today a sign which I photographed says “Goldenbridge Walk”.

Last week I could not gain access to the historic Goldenbridge Cemetery which was supposed to have been opened to the public but it would appear that entrance is now restricted to organised tours.

I had to change my plans for the day so I decided to walk along Goldenbridge Walk and while walking I remembered that there had been a murder in the area many years ago. When I returned home I checked online and discovered that on the 5th. August 1960 the house “Cheznous” at Goldenbridge Walk, Inchicore, in which Miss Margaret O’Loughlin (18) was found dead was declared a murder scene.

DRIMNAGH LUAS TRAM STOP AT GOLDENBRIDGE CEMETERY

If you intend to visit Goldenbridge Cemetery the nearest tram stop is Drimnagh rather than Goldenbridge. I should mention that I have tried to visit the cemetery a number of times during the last six months and every-time I visited it was closed.

Under the Penal Laws, Irish Catholics could only be buried in Church of Ireland (Anglican) cemeteries, and the full graveside rites could not be performed — only prayers from the (Anglican) Book of Common Prayer were permitted. Catholic emancipation came in the 1820s, and the three acres at Goldenbridge, purchased by the Catholic Association for £600, formed the first Catholic cemetery in Ireland since the Reformation. The first burial took place on 15 October 1828. A mortuary chapel in the form of a Roman temple was erected in 1829.

There are 4,250 graves in the cemetery of which 498 have been identified as available for purchase at this time.

Goldenbridge cemetery has been designated by Glasnevin Trust as a conservation cemetery.

In order to preserve the character and ambience of the cemetery, there are rules