It being the day of Samhain the door to the other world slowly creaks open and the desire to visit one of Dublin's oldest and lesser visited cemeteries has struck the RCSI Heritage Collections. Mount Jerome Cemetery was established in 1836 and is the resting place of a number of prominent Irish surgeons.
So who has made Mount Jerome there eternal home? Only a man with a name that couldn't be more fitting for Samhain, Mr. Robert Graves.
Graves was a distinguished scholar who started his studies in Trinity College Dublin under the tutelage of Rev. Ralph Wilde, the brother of the Sir William Wilde. Graves graduated in Arts in 1815 and deciding upon medicine graduated with an M.B in 1818. Graves recognised the importance and promoted the need for post mortem examinations by the pathologist. He studied in a number of European universities (Berlin, Austria, Paris,Italy) and, according to Charles Cameron, had a number of adventures. One ended up with Graves spending 10 days in an Austrian dungeon on charges of being a spy!
In 1821 he returned to Dublin and took up the position of Physician in the Meath Hospital where he started the system of bedside teaching. This teaching method made Graves and his hospital famous throughout the British isles and far beyond. Graves had a very close association with the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland becoming a Fellow in 1823 and being elected it's President in 1843 and 1844.
Who else can be found at slumber with Graves? But a Wilde man! Father of the Wildest man of them all, Sir William Wilde is a neighbour of Graves in Mount Jerome.
Wilde was born in 1815 at Castlereagh, Co. Roscommon. He was indentured to Abraham Colles in 1832 and received his Licence from the College in 1837. Wilde then embarked on a 8 month cruise to the Holy Land with a patient. Legend has it that when in Egypt he found he visited a tomb that had the mummified remains of a dwarf. Wilde salvaged the torso and some embalmed ibises and brought them back to Ireland!
Wilde focused his studies on the eye and ear and soon gained a great reputation in these fields. In 1853 he was also appointed Surgeon-Oculist to the Queen in Ireland. He received numerous honours including the Cunningham Gold Medal from the Royal Irish Academy in 1873. Wilde was not only interested in medicine, he was a keen antiquarian and topographer. He played a vital role in the completion and publication of the 1861 Census. This was recognised by the Earl of Carlisle, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who awarded Wilde a knighthood and said
Not so much in recognition of your high professional standing, which is European, and has been recognised by many countries in Europe, but to mark my sense of the service you have rendered to Statistical Science, especially in connection with the Irish Census.
And for no reason at all other than it is Halloween, below is a pamphlet that shows exorcism was alive and kicking in Dublin in 1833!
So who has made Mount Jerome there eternal home? Only a man with a name that couldn't be more fitting for Samhain, Mr. Robert Graves.
 |
| Graves' tombstone in Mount Jerome |
.JPG) |
| Robert Graves (1797-1853) |
In 1821 he returned to Dublin and took up the position of Physician in the Meath Hospital where he started the system of bedside teaching. This teaching method made Graves and his hospital famous throughout the British isles and far beyond. Graves had a very close association with the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland becoming a Fellow in 1823 and being elected it's President in 1843 and 1844.
Who else can be found at slumber with Graves? But a Wilde man! Father of the Wildest man of them all, Sir William Wilde is a neighbour of Graves in Mount Jerome.
 |
| Wilde's tombstone |
 |
| Sir William Wilde (1815-1876) |
Wilde was born in 1815 at Castlereagh, Co. Roscommon. He was indentured to Abraham Colles in 1832 and received his Licence from the College in 1837. Wilde then embarked on a 8 month cruise to the Holy Land with a patient. Legend has it that when in Egypt he found he visited a tomb that had the mummified remains of a dwarf. Wilde salvaged the torso and some embalmed ibises and brought them back to Ireland!
Wilde focused his studies on the eye and ear and soon gained a great reputation in these fields. In 1853 he was also appointed Surgeon-Oculist to the Queen in Ireland. He received numerous honours including the Cunningham Gold Medal from the Royal Irish Academy in 1873. Wilde was not only interested in medicine, he was a keen antiquarian and topographer. He played a vital role in the completion and publication of the 1861 Census. This was recognised by the Earl of Carlisle, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who awarded Wilde a knighthood and said
Not so much in recognition of your high professional standing, which is European, and has been recognised by many countries in Europe, but to mark my sense of the service you have rendered to Statistical Science, especially in connection with the Irish Census.
And for no reason at all other than it is Halloween, below is a pamphlet that shows exorcism was alive and kicking in Dublin in 1833!
 |
| RCSI/PAMP/327 |
Sásta OÃche Shamhna
- Researched and written by Meadhbh Murphy