The Friends Burial Ground is a Quaker burial ground located at Temple Hill, Blackrock, Dublin. It opened in 1860 and is the only Quaker burial ground in Dublin.
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Before this burial ground opened, there were two other burial grounds in Dublin. One was in Cork Street and the other located off St. Stephen's Green on York Street. The ground on York Street was sold in 1805 for the building of the Royal College of Surgeons. Today there is nothing to be seen of either of these old burial grounds.[1]
The Friends Burial Ground at Temple Hill is 7 acres (28,000 m2) in size and opened with the first interment on 6 March 1860 of Hannah Chapman. All the gravestones in the burial ground are uniform in size and are inscribed with only the names and dates of who they are for. This is in keeping with the Quaker rules for interment.[1]
It is noted that some of the Quaker families interred here are Allen, Grubb, Fairbrother, Goodbody, Pim, Todhunter, Sparrow Walpole and Waring. The burial grounds are under the care of the Dublin Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends in Ireland.[1]
Jonathan Pim (1806–1885) was a founding member of the Dublin Statistical Society and president for many years. During the Great Famine (1845-1852) he was noted for offering relief to those who were suffering. He wrote Condition and Prospects of Ireland and Transactions which appealed for radical land reform in Ireland. After the famine he bought an estate in the west of Ireland for the purpose of benefiting the tenants. After the first Irish Land Act was passed he swiftly gave the tenants the opportunity to own the land.[1]
Sir John Barington (1824–1887) was the Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1865 and 1879. He was a member of Barrington and Co. of Great Britain Street. He died at his home in Kiliney.[1]
Alfred Webb (1834–1908) was an Irish Parliamentary Party politician and Member of Parliament. He is also noted as a biographer, publisher and a contributor to the Freeman's Journal and other papers. He is best known for A Compendium of Irish Biography (1877). He died on 30 July 1908 [1]
Horace Walpole (1880–1964) was mostly involved in the caring and planting of the burial grounds and was a member of the Walpole family whose business on Suffock Street, Dublin specialised in damask and linen manufacturing.[1]
John Richardson Wigham (1829–1906) lighthouse engineer and inventor.[2]