In this series we will take a look at a selection of grave memorials erected in the cemeteries of St Mary’s Parish Church, St Mary’s Church of Ireland, St Augustine’s and Abbeyside Church.
These are large stone or marble
monuments to the clergy, merchants, and gentry of Dungarvan and district. In the late 19th century Celtic
crosses became very fashionable with elaborate interlacing. These were inspired by the Celtic Revival.
The memorials are not all by local
carvers and are executed by masons in Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Liverpool etc. Not all are marked with the maker’s name. A local stone carver in the 19th
century was John Atkins. Patrick Molloy
established his business in 1892 in Kilkenny city, Callan and Dungarvan. There are many memorials by him in Dungarvan,
including that to Edmond Power in the Town Park. There are memorials by other firms such as:
Burnell & Co, Dublin; Farrell & Son, Glasnevin; J. Collins, Waterford;
and T. H. Dennamy, Marble Woks, Glasnevin. It is important to make a visual record of
these as we take their preservation for granted. Age, weather and other threats means that many
of them are now showing signs of wear and damage. An example is one of the most impressive and
elegant memorials which can be found in St Mary’s Parish church. It Commemorates the Cody family and was badly
damaged in 2019 when the top section collapsed.
It is one of the rare instances where we have a newspaper account of
when it was constructed and who carved it.
The website www.historicgraves.com is a valuable resource for looking up grave memorials in Co Waterford and around Ireland as it also includes a photograph of every monument listed.
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| Ussher family memorial |
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| Ussher family memorial, St. Mary's Church of Ireland |
This monument in the shape of an obelisk was carved by Hastings of Anfield, Liverpool and commemorates the Ussher family of Canty House. Related surnames also listed include Musgrave and Hearne.
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| Fosberry Evans Celtic Cross, St. Mary's Church of Ireland |
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| Fosberry Evans Celtic Cross |
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| Celtic Cross, St. Augustine's, Friary St. |
This cross commemorates Michael Power ‘donor to the church’. He was a native of Tramore who had emigrated to Australia and eventually retired to live in Dungarvan where he resided with the mother of Bishop James Vincent Cleary in Main Street. He donated vestments, church furnishings and a chalice to the Friary. In 1884 he paid the Marquis of Waterford for the ground on which the church stood. He is the only lay person buried in the grounds of the church
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| Celtic Cross Rev Landy |
This marble Celtic cross at St Augustine's
church commemorates Rev Vincent Landy, O.S.A. who died in 1902 aged 39. It was carved by Molloy of Callan &
Dungarvan.