Sir, – A visit to Merrion Cemetery, Bellevue, Booterstown, tells the story of the tragic events which gave rise to the construction of Dún Laoghaire Harbour.
In this small and secluded graveyard lies the remains of 120 soldiers of the 18th Regiment of Foot who perished when HM Packet Ship Prince of Wales struck rock at Seapoint in a violent storm on November 19th, 1807. A second ship, the Rochdale, also sank at Seapoint with a further loss of 265 soldiers.
Due to these tragedies the subsequent inquiry gave force to the building of a new harbour in Dún Laoghaire as an asylum, or refuge, harbour and construction started in 1815.
It is of great regret to note the negligence on the part of Dublin City Council to this hidden graveyard, now designated as a public park but totally overgrown, littered with beer cans and apparently lacking in any regular maintenance and upkeep. The gravestone commemorating the tragic event and those that perished is obscured in detail due to wear and weather and is now totally enveloped in overgrowth.
Dublin City Council must therefore be called upon to commemorate the tragic events of 1807 and those that perished by the renovation, development and landscaping of this historic and beautiful urban oasis. – Yours, etc,
PADDY MacNEILL,
Goatstown.