St. Mary's Collegiate Church & Graveyard In Howth (Ireland)

St. Mary's Collegiate Church & Graveyard In Howth (Ireland), originally uploaded by infomatique.

Every time I visit Howth I check out this old graveyard to see what changes if any have taken place. There are many identified burials (some very old and some very recent) but some are not identified or the grave markers have totally disintegrated or else do not identify the person.

When I first visited many years ago there was a simple wooden cross with a teddy bear attached to it but recently the stuffed bear was removed. [Note: see photograph above]

The "Stranger's Bank" was used for unidentified victims of disasters at sea. When the Howth tram line was built in the last years of the 19th century, an unknown worker died and was buried and his work colleagues set up two tram rails as a memorial.


The last time I visited access was limited because of damage due to flooding. In October 2011 here in Dublin we had the heaviest rainfall ever as one month’s rain fell in a day. It was so bad in Howth that the flow of water led the graveyard wall collapsing which left several coffins exposed and floating to the surface.