Deansgrange Cemetery

Deansgrange Cemetery was established in 1861 and the first burial took place there in 1865. There is an area of the cemetery marked Republican Plot and it commemorates prisoners who died in Wandsworth Prison in 1922. James Connolly's daughter Fiona is also buried here.

This cemetery illustrates perfectly the way people of various differing walks of life end up side by side. There are two Taoisigh buried here, Sean Lemass and John A. Costello. The singer John McCormack and the writer Frank O'Connor are also buried here.

Sean Lemass was born in Ballybrack and fought in the 1916 Rising with the Volunteers. He served Dublin City as a T.D. from 1925 until 1969, without interruption and died 2 years later in 1971. Lemass was renowned for his drive and enthusiasm in relation to the reform of the country.

As Taoiseach he improved industry and helped promote a new more developed Ireland. This was in contrast to his predecessor, Eamonn De Valera who had ruled for so many years.

Mingled in with the past political leaders of this country are famous people from the world of arts and culture. John McCormack was regarded as the greatest lyric tenor of his generation, having made his debut in Covent Garden in 1907.

O'Connor was known primarily as a writer of short stories. His first publication was entitled Guests of the Nation and was published in 1931. He wrote plays (2 of which were performed in the Abbey Theatre) and travel books. During his lifetime he lectured in colleges in America and at home in Trinity College Dublin.


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