Huguenot cemetery, Dublin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Huguenot Cemetery (Irish: Reilig na nÚgóineach) is a small cemetery dating from 1693^[1] located near St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, Ireland, beside the Shelbourne Hotel. Although often described as being on the green, it is actually on the north side of Merrion Row, a small street linking St. Stephen's Green with Upper Merrion Street and Ely Place.

Those buried there are descendants of Huguenots who fled persecution in France following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes which had guaranteed religious freedom. The Huguenots quickly established a thriving community in Dublin and elsewhere in Ireland based on their skills in textiles, watchmaking and finance. Within a short time they had become an integral part of the commercial and civic life of Dublin.

The cemetery is not open to visitors, though it is visible through the railings and a list of 239 surnames of those buried is inscribed on the wall plaque to the left. These include Becquett (relatives of Samuel Beckett) and Dubedad. Jean-Paul Pittion, one of the editors of The Hugenots in Ireland, an Anatomy of an Emigration was instrumental in having the cemetery restored, which by the late 1970's had fallen into a serious state of disrepair.^{[citation needed]}