Travel Back in Time: The Sad Tale of the 'Irish Cemetery'

The story of the cemetery behind St. Francis de Sales Church is, in many ways, a major part of the story of Charlestown.

A tale of mystery and sadness, the cemetery history contains some of the rich legacy of Irish immigration that has shaped the community Charlestown is today.

There are at least 9,000 "souls" buried in the cemetery. Hundreds of those buried there between 1845 and 1850 were children of the Irish potato famine -- children who crossed the Atlantic for a better life, but did not live long enough to see it. At the burial ground’s entrance there is a memorial Celtic Cross dedicated to the children. Research to identify the names of all those interred continues.

In January of 1830 Bishop Benedict Fenwick, the second Bishop of Boston, purchased three acres of land from the Hunnewell family of Charlestown. He intended to use the land for a Catholic burial ground because St. Augustine’s in Boston, the first Catholic cemetery in New England, was almost full. 

But the Bishop was soon embroiled in a battle. Protestant leaders in Charlestown united against him in 1832, passing a series of regulations which would not allow bodies into Charlestown without the selectmen’s written permission.

That May Fenwick petitioned the selectmen for permission to inter two children from Boston: Florence Driscoll who was three-years-old and James Kinsley who was three months. Town leaders declined his request, but the Bishop disregarded their ruling and ordered the sexton to go ahead with the funeral of the two children. Catholic burials continued through the rest of the month.

Protestant leaders sued Fenwick, but a court ruled in the Bishop's favor. An appeal to the Massachusetts Supreme Court upheld the ruling. Catholics were free to use the burial ground.

Threats continued to the sacred ground, but burials continued. They had to.

Records show that a large number of Irish children who immigrated during the famine died in Charlestown and were buried on the side of Bunker Hill. Charlestown Vital Records indicate the deaths of at least 41 Irish children.

They included Bridget Noonan, age 1, who died of cholera, as did Michael Sullivan who was 11 months old. Margaret Kenney, Mary Ryne and James Walsh all died of typhus fever. Daniel Corson, Ellen Dean and Denis Phelan died of scarlet fever. Others died of consumption, lung fever, dropsy and dysentery.

Hundreds of deaths went unreported. At the time it was the heartbreaking practice for destitute parents to leave the corpses of their children on the stairs leading up to the cemetery in hope that the sexton would bury them. Records show that this practice continued up to the beginning of the Civil War.

Charlestown residents share a debt of gratitude to the Charlestown Historical Society and to the Parish of St. Francis de Sales for their successful efforts in helping us remember the Irish children.

In September 2009, after a long, arduous campaign to raise the money and do the tedious and laborious research, an 8-foot high traditional Celtic Cross with icons associated with the Irish immigrant experience was placed at the entrance to the cemetery. An adjoining dedication stone reads in part: Dedicated to the sacrifice and courage of the children of the famine, who perished on the very threshold of the dream. May God grant them life eternal.

• Where is it?
  The graveyard is behind St Francis de Sales Church. The Celtic Memorial is at the entrance of the graveyard.

• When was it designated?
  The graveyard was designated in 1832. The Celtic Cross was dedicated in September 2009.

• Who built it? 
  The land for the graveyard belonged to a Charlestown family. Deveney & White Monuments consulted on the final design and selection of stone materials for the memorial.

• What was it built for and who was the first deceased buried there? It was designated as a Catholic burial ground; two young children were the first deceased buried there.

• Why was it built?
  There was no Catholic burial ground in Charlestown.

• How was it built?
  On a hill slope overlooking the Mystic River

• What are the future plans for the burial ground?
  Holy Cross Cemetery in Malden is the guardian of the burial ground’s records and caretaker of the grounds. The last person to be buried there was in the 1940s. Researchers hope to identify all those who are buried there.

Information for this article was compiled from the following sources:
www.charlestownhistoricalsociety.org;
www.stfrancisdesalescharlestown.com; Children of the Famine Memorial Booklet; http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=10847; http://www.yelp.com/topic/charlestown-mysterious-cemetery-in-charlestown... and interview