graveyard/cemetery

Jewish cemetery, on irregular plan, with first interments in 1718 and last in 1958, containing 148 marked graves and many more unmarked. Large trees to site. Bounded by rendered walling built in 1857, and served by modest two-storey gate lodge of same date.

This Jewish cemetery's list of surviving headstone inscriptions shows the earliest legible marker dated 1777, marking the grave of Jacob Wills, known to his friends as 'Frenchman'. The tombstones of the Cohens, who were descendants of the 'Priests of Israel', can be identified by the depiction of joined hands. The first members of the Jewish community to settle north of the River Tolka resided on Annadale Avenue in the early nineteenth century, coinciding with the increased industrialization of the area. In 1718, the plot for the graveyard was leased from Chichester Philips of Drumcondra Castle, and in 1748 it was purchased by the Jewish community with the assistance of the London synagogue. It became their principal burial ground until the exodus to the south side of the city and the opening of the Dolphin's Barn cemetery in 1898. The lodge to the road end accommodated a caretaker, part of whose function was to deter grave robbers and vandals.