New audio guides of historic cemeteries include the Cabbage Garden

Dublin City Council (DCC) has created new audio guides for some of Dublin’s historic cemeteries, with one of them including the Cabbage Garden off Cathedral Lane in the Liberties.  

In the audio guide, one will learn about the history of Cabbage Garden Cemetery from its origins to present day. The cemetery has served as a final resting place of many Huguenots (French Protestants) and Church of Ireland residents of the city since the 17^th century.  

“The heritage of the Cabbage Garden is not widely known, therefore it was felt that the site is an excellent candidate for off-site interpretation,” said Christina Todd, executive landscape architect at Dublin City Council.  

“The audio guide briefly mentions other sites with linking heritage, but is largely about the Cabbage Garden’s heritage. The other two audio guides are for burial places outside the Liberties area – the Huguenot Cemetery in Merrion Row and the Jewish Cemetery in Ballybough,” Todd added.  

The Cabbage Garden’s name supposedly comes from the vegetables grown by Oliver Cromwell’s soldiers in this field in the 17th-century. From its foundation as a cemetery in the late 1600s, it became the final resting place of members of the Protestant Church of Ireland. They were then joined by the Conforming Huguenots, who were buried in the northwest corner of the site, which then became known as the French Burial Grounds. Today, the cemetery is used as a community park, where locals take a walk.  

“Listeners can choose to listen to the whole story of the Cabbage Garden or to listen to individual ‘chapters’, such as the overview provided by the local historian in residence. The consultancy Abarta  created the audio guide. Their research team developed the narrative and wrote the script (bar that spoken by the historian in residence), which was reviewed by the steering group,” said Todd.  

  The listeners can tune in to the audio guides while visiting nearby the burial grounds but can equally access them while on the go elsewhere, or even from the comfort of their homes. The guides are a particularly suitable heritage resource as they allow for the quiet and respectful exploration of the burial grounds. The guides are in keeping with the Council’s policies which aim to celebrate the rich, often hidden, heritage of the city’s burial places. 

Leslie Moore, head of parks, biodiversity and landscape services for DCC, said, “Old burial grounds in the city provide quiet spaces for contemplation and yet they are often missed in the day-to-day business of Dubliners. The audio guides will promote the local heritage and sense of place that these hidden gardens provide and, if successful, will be extended to other old burial grounds throughout the city.” 

To listen to the guide you can find the link on DCC website.