IF YOU’VE EVER walked up Fairview Strand, just where it meets Richmond Road, on Dublin’s northside, and paid very close attention, you might have spotted an unusual plaque on a building:
BUILT IN THE YEAR 5618
This is the gate lodge (or, perhaps, mortuary house, there’s some disagreement) of a Jewish cemetery, the oldest in Ireland. The plaque marks the date of its construction in the Hebrew calendar – for context, it’s now 5780.
The graveyard itself dates back further, to the start of the 18th century. By the 20th century, the Jewish community in the area had migrated south of the Liffey, and the graveyard slowly fell out of use, and eventually, into disrepair.
Those in ownership of the graveyard reached out to Dublin City Council, who took over the plot and are working to restore it.
There are plans to convert it into a groundskeeper residence, while clearing weeds, tidying up gravestones, and allow the public either visual access or access to the grounds on request.
Watch the video above for more. Additional reporting by Cónal Thomas.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say