Arklow History #1 - The Abbey Graveyard

The Abbey Graveyard is located off the main street of Arklow Town, next to the site of Brennans Electrical and it's car park. It feels strange to see a place that was once the focal point of the town now in a car park, the clash between Arklows past and present. But it is even stranger when you step inside and feel a sense of tranquility and peace.

The Site of the Abbey Graveyard (left)

The Main Gate

The graveyard was originally the 'Priory of Holy Cross' or Arklow Abbey, and was founded in 1263. For 275 years ,until it's suppression in 1539, the Abbey played a central role in the religious life of Arklow. It was a place of pilgrimage to venerate a relic of the true cross. Unfortunately the original structure fell into ruin due to suppression of the monasteries by Henry VIII from the 1540s. The only surviving piece of the original structure is thought to be the granite cross in the centre of the graveyard, and its only surviving relic is a liturgical book dating from 1320 which is currently in the Lambeth Palace Library of London. 

The only surviving relic from the original abbey is though to be this granite cross in the centre circle of graves

The Abbey had always been used for burials, with important people buried within the structure and lesser people on the social structure buried as close to the Abbey as possible. This was due to the belief that the closer you were buried to the Abbey, the closer you would be to eternal salvation. There are currently 116 memorials currently standing or lying horizontal. Inscribed stones were placed from 1716, with plain marker stones placed much earlier (but unfortunately were pillaged for building materials). 

A memorial with a record the details of some of Arklows founding sons, with a history of the graveyard. 

Living in Arklow, it's a strange feeling that a place with so much history is located in such a central location, especially with the modern architecture surrounding it. But entering the grounds and taking a seat on one of the benches is a wonderful experience, everything seems to go quiet and you get a real sense of history, the many who have come before you and now rest here.