Mrs "D" and Uncle Pat

One of my fondest memories of growing up was visiting my Grand Aunt Eileen and my Grand Uncle Pat in their house at 130 Kimmage Road Lower. Eileen and Pat were brother and sister to my Grandmother Kathleen Hurley - all three grew up in the town of Newmarket in Northwest Co Cork (in this house on Church Street). In the photograph below of my Mum and Dad's wedding day (22nd October 1958) my grandmother Kathleen is third from the right at the front (wearing fox furs), just over her left shoulder is Eileen, and the jolly looking slightly balding man third right in the back row is Pat:

One of the things I had listed for myself to do during the holidays was to find Pat and Eileen's grave to add to my family tree. Yes - this is a little bit morbid, especially on a fine summer's day. I knew they were buried in Mt Jerome Cemetery in Harold's Cross sometime in the late 1970s. I called to the office at the cemetery and the location of their grave took seconds for the attendant to find. He gave me a map and off I went. It took a while to find the grave - for future reference the grave number is 460-39579. The number "460" refers to the section, and "39579" is the grave number. To find it, walk along the road known as "Yew Walk" in the middle of the cemetery until you reach Consecration Walk. Turn left, and take the 4th path on the right - the grave is the 23rd plot in from Consecration Walk. Uncle Pat died on 27th December 1977, while Eileen died on 7th January, 1981.

Eileen was always known in our family as "Mrs D". I believe that her husband died not long after they were married and she never married again or had any children. In the 1911 census for Residents of a house 2 in Church Street (Newmarket, Cork) she is listed as 9-year old "Ellen Agnes Hurley" while Pat is listed as 10-year old "Patrick Peter Hurley". They were lovely people and always had a great welcome. It's sad to think that it has taken me over 33 years to re-visit their grave - but at least I now know where it is.